I've Got The Magic In Me
by Razzadazza
Summary: Beca is finally old enough to start at Hogwarts. Leaving her sister and mother behind at the train station, she goes to the magic school with her professor dad. Making friends isn't hard, but stormy times await for her and a 'fast friend'... (Au timeline)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm writing this crossover with a friend of mine (check out her account: Sia99), after a prompt we found. This is both mine and her's first story, so please feel free to leave some advice and/or suggestions, and we'll try to include it :)**

I bounced around the corner into King's Cross Station, pulling my Mum by the hand, whilst Dad wheeled the trunk on a trolley with my sister Josephine sat on the front. We were all smiling; myself- because I was finally 11 and old enough to start at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; my parents- beaming with pride at the sight of their daughter going to a wizarding school; and Josie- well at 8 she couldn't be happier or have anything at all to worry about.

Speeding up as I got closer to the right platform, almost breaking into a run, I could barely contain my excitement, I gazed up at the wall in front of me where platform 9 ¾ was concealed. "Beca, slow down…" Mum said light-heartedly, a smile breaking across her face as I turned to see her come to a halt. I gave her a hug, leaping into her arms, as she whispered her goodbyes. I nuzzled myself into her neck tightly, smelling her scent for the last time in a while, and pulled away just as a tear fell down her cheek. "Don't cry, I'll be home before you know it" I said, wiping the tear away gently and grinning up at her as she straightened herself. By then, Dad had caught up and was slowly walking towards me, kneeling down and embracing me before saying "No words can describe how proud of you, I am, Rebecca Elizabeth Mitchell." I winced slightly at the use of my full name, but decided to let it go. "I know you're going to flourish there and you're going to make so many new friends and meet people who can do magic, just like you. The train boards soon and you don't want to be late now! I love you." Tears welling up in his eyes, he took my hand and guided me over to the trolley. I tugged impatiently on his hand, wanting to get a move on, but he turned back. While I sighed exasperatedly, he gave Mum a quick peck on the cheek, saying that he wouldn't be long and explaining to Josie that he was going to show her a disappearing magic trick through a wall. He swiftly strolled back to me, placing one hand on my back and the other on the trolley. "You ready Becs?" He said with the same mischievous smirk I inherited from him. "Born ready" I replied with a sarcastic eye roll. My heart beat faster with the rush of adrenaline when we raced towards the wall. I looked back, and time had slowed down, I could see Mum and Josephine waving at me, and out of the corner of my eye, a flash of red hair.

I craned my neck to try and see more of the owner of the hair, but my head snapped back just when a rush of wind passed through me, it sucked the breath out of my lungs, and made my heart lurch. The busy, buzzing commotion blasted all around me as I stepped into the chaos with my Dad who clutched my trolley and kept me nearby to keep me from being swept away from the large numbers. I wasn't scared or nervous: I was thrilled. Looking around me, I saw the masses of young student; tightly hugging; frantically boarding; waving teary goodbyes, I realised with urgency the need to get onto the train and join in with them. Giving Dad one last hug, I took hold of the cage containing Patrick who was sounding constant unsettled meow's from his cage, with me. Hopping on board, I turned in the doorway to wave at Dad. I just caught him yelling that he'll see me at school. I pivoted to go find a seat in the already packed carriage, and then I saw her. Momentarily captivated by the bright red headed girl, I watched her waving to her family, her mouth spread into a wide smile and yelling her goodbyes, trying to be heard over the final whistle of the train, the closing of doors, and all the other young voices. Finally snapping out of it, I went and sat myself down in the emptiest compartment I could find, wanting some quiet. I was looking out the window, when I was interrupted by a tapping at the compartment window.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit in here? Most of the others are pretty much full…?"

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, leave a review if you want, but you don't have to. We will try and update weekly :)**


	2. Chapter 2

I looked up, slightly annoyed to be disturbed from my thoughts, to see a brown haired boy in a checked blue button up shirt looking hopefully at me, with a toad in his grasp. I sighed quietly before slightly nodding my head in consent.

"Yeah I suppose so…"

He beamed brightly "Thanks! I'm Jesse by the way, Jesse Swanson. I'm so nervous about going to Hogwarts- I mean my name has been down since birth- but that doesn't mean I can't be nervous, right? I'm lucky to even be here! What house do you want to be in? I want to be in either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, because they sound like the best houses. Oh, I can't wait to meet Dumbledore! He's always sounded like a really nice guy, and you know they say he's the most powerful wizard of his age AND the best headmaster Hogwarts has ever had…."

My good mood slowly deflated as I sighed, already regretting letting this annoying person into the carriage.

"Oh! I almost forgot! What's your name?" he asked eagerly

"Beca.", I replied begrudgingly

"Beca? Nice. I used to know someone called Rebecca, she-"

"It's not Rebecca." I growled. Only Josie is allowed to call me that.

"Oh, sorry. Beca it is. So Beca, are you excited? I can't wait to start the lessons! I think History of Magic will be my favourite, and I've heard Professor Mitchell is a great teacher, but you don't know until you try them all right?"

"I'm not too sure about that…" I muttered, not even sure Jesse had heard me through his rambling.

"Supposedly the worst teacher there is Professor Slughorn, but he can't really be that bad, can he? I mean, no one can be that pompous for that long, right? I think we just need to give him a chance. Oh! And also learning to fly a broom! That will be awesome! I wanted to ride my Dad's old one, but he said I wasn't old enough at the time…"

I sighed again, looking out the window, deciding to just let him carry on with his excited gibberish.

"Alright alright, what's goin' on in here?" I turned my head towards the door, my eyes sweeping over a blonde girl positioned in the entrance. She was wearing a teal shirt and leggings, and the smile plastered on her face immediately brought back my good mood.

I greeted her with a smile, glad that Jesse had quietened. "Hey, I'm Beca, and this is Jesse" I said warmly, gesturing for her to come in, hoping that she would so I could get a moment of peace without the boy opposite me talking my ear off. She swaggered over to the seat next to Jesse and sat down.

"My name's Amy. Fat Amy" she added.

"You call yourself 'Fat Amy'?" I questioned.

"Yeah, so twigs like you don't do it behind my back" she responded jovially

Both Jesse and I chuckled hesitantly at this remark, then all-out laughed as Amy joined in. From then, conversation flowed nicely, with lots of jokes and banter. I smiled widely to myself, knowing that I'd succeeded in Josie's one request: make some nice friends.

We carried on with the effortless talk until a friendly-faced witch with a trolley bursting with sweets arrived. After that, we munched quietly on the various treats we had bought as the train sped further and further into the countryside.

As the lamps of the train turned on, I sighed contentedly, smiling at my two new schoolmates. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I caught another flash of red. I whipped around, leaping up from my seat to rush to the window of the compartment's door. Not seeing anything, I groaned, and sat back down in my seat with a thump.

"What was all that about?" Jesse inquired

I blushed slightly, muttering "Nothing, don't worry about it…"

Jesse and Amy shared a confused glance before the latter laughed; "Probably just saw a crumple-horned snorkack". I joined in with the pair's laughter at the ridiculous prospect, but at the back of my mind, I vowed to find the owner of the red curls.

"Alright J-man, you need to leave so me and Skinny over there can get changed into our robes". I blinked at the new nickname, not altogether surprised that the Aussie had given me one already.

"What about me though?" Jesse whined.

"I dunno, use the toilet or something" she snickered

Sighing, he grabbed his change of clothes and left the compartment. I turned around, having to stand up on the chair to reach the overhead compartment with my luggage. I chose to ignore the giggles from behind me. We got changed quickly so Jesse could re-enter the compartment, and the cheery conversation soon restarted.

"Firs' years this way! All firs' years this way!" The call summoning all newcomers boomed across the platform where we were all stood. Standing on tiptoes to try and see the owner of the voice (more giggles), my eyes fell upon a massive man stood with a lantern illuminating the space in front of him. Jesse, Amy and I gravitated towards the dark figure, our faces splitting with grins from ear to ear.

Once we reached the lake however, our grins slowly faded. I turned to the huge man (Hagrid was apparently his name) and asked: "You're kidding right? Those are tiny boats, and that's a massive lake! I am NOT getting in one of those". Nevertheless, we clambered into the unsteady vessel one at a time, and gripped onto the edge as it took off. Looking around me with wide eyes, I took in the magnificent view of both the castle and the grounds. I couldn't believe I was going to be staying here. Reflecting on what Jesse had said earlier, I internally agreed that I was indeed lucky to be here. It wasn't until ¾ of the way across the lake that I turned around in my seat to acknowledge the presence of the 4th person in the boat.

A small gasp escaped my mouth as I saw that it was the girl with the fiery hair. My eyes met strikingly blue ones, and my stomach lurched as she gave me a small smile. I had the uneasy feeling that she had been watching me, for who knows how long. As our crafts docked, all the students clambered out, still taking in the sheer size of Hogwarts. I, however, was determined to speak to the unknown girl. I started towards her. To my frustration, her arm was grabbed by a skinny blonde girl who gave me a glare, and they were swept away by the crowd. Frowning slightly, I turned back to 'J-man' and Amy.

"Shall we go in?" I asked, excitement dripping from my voice. They both nodded impatiently at me, so we joined the crowd thronging towards the entrance. Once inside I gasped, more audibly this time, as I took in the majestic stone structure of the entrance hall. I was brought out of my revere by a strict voice.

"Welcome first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..." The voice belonged to a witch wearing dark green robes, and a crooked hat. If I could describe her in one word, it would be…. _Sharp. "..._ Whilst you are here, your house will be like your family. Any good actions will earn your house points, which will count towards the house cup that is awarded at the end of the year. Any _bad behaviour_ " her eyes narrowed as they swept the sea of faces looking up at her, as if daring us to try and misbehave "Will be punished, which includes taking away points from your house. If your action is severe enough, you will be taken to your head of house. I am the head of Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall, so I expect each and every one of you who is placed in my house to be on your best behaviour _at all times._ " As she finished her speech I internally promised that if I was in Gryffindor, I would stay out of as much trouble as possible. Primarily to avoid getting that glare from the woman again.

"Right. Now that that is out the way, let us enter the Great Hall."


	3. Chapter 3

Professor McGonagall turned on her heel and practically threw open the doors to the Great Hall. All of us first-years drew in a collective gasp as we were greeted with the sight of: four seemingly never-ending tables with masses of students situated at them; floating candles; a night sky above the candles and no visible ceiling; and a long table at the end of the hall containing the professors, including Dad. I managed a small smile in his direction, but quickly stifled it as I noticed all the other students staring in our direction. Placed right in the middle of the top table was an elderly wizard, observing us over arched fingers. Directly in front of him was a three-legged stool (which didn't look very stable) with a tattered, dirty wizard's hat on the top.

With faltering steps, our congregation made our way forwards, towards the wonky stool and teachers. Once we had made our way to the front McGonagall whipped around, very effectively stopping our procession, and cast another distasteful glance at us all. "When I call your name, step up and sit on the stool. I will place the sorting hat on your head, and it will decide on your house."

I found myself slightly apprehensive as I stared at the dishevelled hat in front of me. My thoughts were interrupted as a boy with sleek blonde hair shoved his way to the front, next to me. I smirked at his antics, and he returned the gesture.

"Lucius" he stated, holding out his hand.

"Beca" I replied, shaking it.

We exchanged another smirk before I turned back to the stool to see "Adams, Cynthia Rose" positioned on the stool as McGonagall placed the hat on her cornrowed hair with tufts of pink at the ends. I caught the not-so-subtle frown at the colour though.

Suddenly, a discernible mouth appeared from within the material of the hat as it shrieked "Slytherin!" As the rest of the hall applauded, Lucius leaned over and muttered to me "That's the best house. Trust me; you want to get in there." I imitated McGonagall's earlier expression and frowned: Jesse had said Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were the best, but Lucius had now said that Slytherin is the best. Who was I to believe?

Disregarding this unnecessary worry, I turned my attention back to Professor McGonagall as she read from a scroll in her hands: "Applebaum, Benji". As Benji emerged from the crowd, I cringed. The boy seriously needed a wardrobe change. Uniforms are supposed to keep us all equal, but somehow he had managed to make himself stand out. His shirt was tucked into his trousers, which were rolled up to reveal that his socks were pulled up as high as they would go. He sat down nervously and the hat soon descended upon his head. "Gryffindor!" it exclaimed. Clearly pleased with this, he jumped off the stool with a proud bounce in his step as he went to seat himself at the Gryffindor table.

"Beale, Chloe" summoned McGonagall. Still following Benji with my eyes, I swirled round to be confronted with the image of the now familiar red curls and bright blue eyes as Chloe emerged from the throng of students. _So that's her name…_ I thought. The girl sat herself on the stool, obviously nervous: you could tell by the way she was biting her lip and fiddling with her robe. I curiously looked over her, and back up to the sorting hat that was placed on her head. The face on the front of it looked as though in deep thought, but only for a few moments before bursting out with "Hufflepuff!" Beale looked positively relieved as she beamed and slid off the stool and practically sprinted towards the table that held many smiling faces just her. She slipped into the space next to Benji and accepted his hurried congrats, and returned them before turning to face the front once again.

Next up was a tall girl named Stacie who was sorted into Ravenclaw. Stacie was followed by a girl called Jessica, who ended up in Hufflepuff and sat opposite Chloe. After a few other nervous students, Lucius was finally called and he shot me a smirk as he slid forwards. In reply, I mouthed "Hope you're in HUFFLEPUFF" at him. He just stuck his tongue out as he perched on the rickety wooden stool. From my (fairly good) vantage point, I swear the hat never even touched his hair, let alone his head before it cried out "Slytherin!" It was my turn to stick out my tongue as Lucius winked playfully at me, and swaggered off towards the far table.

"Martin, Patricia" called the older woman. When no one came forward. I noticed that Amy was hovering anxiously beside me, shuffling her feet. "Patricia?" Slowly, I felt Amy walk up past me. I was taken aback as I watched as the girl begin to walk up the stairs. I looked over at Jesse mouthing to him "Her real name is Patricia?!" Both our jaws were hanging from utter disbelief. "Gryffindor!" said the hat sorting her, a large cheer coming from the table of her house. She smiled that huge grin and walked down the steps passing me on her way. "Dude, seriously?!" I said. "Sorry shortstack!" She teased back at me. I huffed and defensively commented that Amy (or Patricia) would always be getting into trouble with McGonagall, which momentarily wiped the grin off her face before she repositioned it, and joined the Gryffindor table.

"Mitchell, Rebecca". McGonagall had called me forward, causing me to recoil once again in response to the use of my full name as it echoed over the unheard silence of the great hall. I glanced quickly at my Dad who flashed me a supportive smile and nodded towards the chair which, although was only up a few stairs, felt like miles away from where I stood. I started to climb the steps, looking up at McGonagall, who towered over me, to see that she was smiling, unlike with the other students. _Oh no… she has made the connection as to who I am_ I thought, suddenly concerned as to who else may have linked my Dad to me. "It's just Beca. Actually." I informed, instantly making the small curves at the ends of her mouth drop. Cringing slightly, I placed myself on the hard wooden surface of the stool. I felt like I could've been famous, with the countless pairs of eyes on me as I sat on the 'throne'. I honestly couldn't explain why my heartbeat picked up. My dad had reassured me countless times that everyone gets sorted; no one is left houseless. Nevertheless, I found it a bit of a struggle to breathe as my stomach tied itself in knots. I felt the unfamiliarity of my heart lurching, (which was unnerving because of my usual confidence) as I felt the fabric of the hat's weight pushing my hair down slightly, the inner circle of the hat gripping snuggly to the sides of my head. I could feel the hat moving, obviously making various facial expressions, which only made me more nervous at the prospect that it was frowning. Seconds passed by at an abnormally idle rate, as I gazed around the hall, my eyes first falling on Chloe who was beaming brightly up at me. Part of me hoped I would be in her house. I then traced my eyes over to Jesse, and ended up rolling them over the fact he had crossed his fingers and was goofily smiling. "Slytherin!" sounded the hat, snapping me out of my trance. I heard a number of whoops and cheers from the far left, and the burden was quite literally lifted off my head. I hopped off the stool, forgetting its unsteady nature and almost knocked it over, but carried on down the steps towards Slytherin house and plopped down next to Lucious. "Knew you would be in my house! I told you it's the best!" He patted me on the back as he sneered lazily. "It's only the best because I'm in it!" I remarked. He grinned at my sarcasm.

Next, an Asian girl was called. I only caught her first name, Lily, because her surname was really long. There was something mysterious and perhaps dangerous about her that made me question slightly why she was put in Hufflepuff.

Subsequent to Lily came Mary Elise who was put into Ravenclaw along with Aubrey Posen, the controlling blonde who was linking arms with Chloe earlier. I couldn't understand why she seemed so uptight all the time, and why the sorting so obviously meant so much to her, with the constant clenching and unclenching of her fists. It seemed like she was not only scared about being sorted, but about which house she was put into; as if her life depended on it. I felt a pang of worry and hoped she wouldn't be in the same house as me, or Chloe for that matter, and breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn't.

There were various other first years sorted and soon there only remained a small group including Jesse. During that time another girl, Denise, had been sorted into Slytherin along with a guy named Rosier. Another girl, Ashley, was ecstatic to say the least, when she got put into Hufflepuff along with her best friend Jessica.

"Swanson, Jesse" McGonagall called, beckoning at him when he held back a bit. He finally made his way up the stairs and placed himself carefully on the seat. I saw him looking for me and I met his gaze and smiled reassuringly, whilst secretly hoping he would be in the same house so I knew had at least one friend with me, even if he was a bit annoying. "Gryffindor!" cried the hat. I felt my shoulders sink, but looked up again when I heard a familiar voice shriek above the cheers: "Shawshank, you did it! We're going to be in the same house, J-man!" At this, I laughed, and was joined in by Lucius and Cynthia-Rose and I just knew from then on that I would be fine and was sure to make good friends in Slytherin too.


	4. Chapter 4

I made my way into the common room, led by two prefects. Sticking close to Lucius and Cynthia Rose, the first years assigned to Slytherin house huddled together eagerly waiting to hear what dorm we'd be in. "Each of you will be staying in a room with up to three others. Through this door are the dorms: girls on the right, boys on the left", stated the prefect, gesturing the doorway at the end of the Common Room "Girls follow Thorne, she'll show you where each of you will be sleeping, and boys follow me." I went to follow Thorne, a pale short haired girl with a choker around her neck, _are those even allowed?!_ I thought, but was stopped by a tap on my shoulder from Lucius "Guess I'll see you around tomorrow, and if we don't have the same classes, I'll see you in between at mealtimes. G'night" and with that he gave me a small wave and walked down the corridor after the other boys.

"Adams, Mitchell and Robinson, your dorm is here", stated Thorne, indicating the door that lay ahead of her "Lights out by 10, you've got an early start tomorrow." and with that she was gone. I was slightly surprised by the dull, medieval interior of our new dorm. There were 3 poster beds each placed halfway along one side of a wall, forming a semi-circle around a large space in the middle of the room. This space was occupied by a large, rectangular, Late Renaissance style rug, which made for a comfortable flooring space on top of the hard stone slabs. In the empty corner, tenantless without a bed, were a mirror, a dressing table, and one large wardrobe for necessary hanging. I could see there was plenty of storage space with bedside drawers and large chests at the foot of each bed. There was little illumination in the room, except the glowing of various candles, and the small amount of light that was let in through the singular window on the right hand side.

"But I thought we were in the basement? How could there be a window to the outside?" I heard Robinson quiz.

"That's an artificial window. They have them all over the Ministry of Magic as well. It ensures that we get enough Vitamin C when we are studying, and also helps us to decide how many layers to wear for the day" I explained, recalling the time I had asked Dad about it. I heard the girl hum in understanding, so I moved closer to the beds, peering around to see which one was mine. I soon came across the one with my trunk on it, and was delighted to see that Patrick had arrived safely, and was already curled up on my pillow, making content mews. I smiled and stroked him smoothly, increasing the volume of his purrs.

"Awwwh that's so cute! What's he called?" I heard Cynthia Rose ask as she stepped closer, also extending a hand and stroking my cat, after a nod of consent from me.

"Uh… Patrick" I stated. "My sister helped me choose and name him." Cynthia Rose nodded in response and softly smiled at Patrick.

"So…." she started, glancing up at me, then quickly back down to where her hand was making even strokes along the appreciative cat's body. Impatiently waiting for her to carry on, I turned around to look out the window. "Your dad….. He's Professor Mitchell, right? The middle-aged guy at the teacher's table."

I whipped back around, using my best death glare, snapping "What?!" Catching the look of distress on Cynthia's face, I melted my features into a slight frown. "Look, I'm sorry alright?" I apologised, moving closer and talking under my breath. "I just don't want anyone to make that connection, you know? I don't want to be forever known as the girl who only got in because her Dad's a teacher. Plus he's really embarrassing." CR nodded, a bit too quickly, so I flashed her a reassuring smile. Seeing her visibly relax, I muttered "Just please don't mention this to anyone else ok?" I held out my hand for her to shake, which she did, giving me a smile which I returned. I decided I liked this girl with the abnormal appearance, and would get to know her better. Obviously observance was one of her fortes.

I turned round to introduce myself to Robinson, learning that her name was Denise. After the introduction, Cynthia Rose, Denise and I chatted for a bit, mostly about lessons, and free time. I got a bit nervous when History of Magic came up, and Robinson looked confused and suspicious about Cynthia's smirk in my direction, but my worries were all in vain, as she kept her promise. Eventually, Thorne poked her head round the door, frowning at the fact that we hadn't done anything but talk, and demanded that we start 'sorting ourselves out'. I rolled my eyes at the pair sat on my bed with me, earning a few sniggers, before they moved away towards their individual beds. One by one, we started to unpack our trunks of clothing, books, quills, and spare robes; each placing them in our respective dressers. I took out a picture that I had packed and smiled nostalgically; it was a picture of me, my parents, and Josie when we went out for a day at the beach. Myself and Josie had just been given ice creams, and so were beaming at the camera. Josie's ice cream was dripping halfway down her arm, as she didn't want to be caught on camera licking it instead of smiling. My parents were stood behind us, arm in arm, their faces lit up with a happiness I couldn't even describe. Placing the frame carefully on my bedside table, I turned back to my trunk and extracted my wand- 10 inch, Black Walnut exterior, unicorn hair core- and left that beside the photo. I sighed, pleased having finished all my unpacking, but slightly disappointed that I couldn't call Josie and tell her all about Hogwarts.

Shaking this feeling, I checked the time on my new watch that my Dad had brought me, promising that it would work at Hogwarts, seeing that the time was 9:45. I decided to get an early night, as tomorrow would surely be stressful and tiring. Having changed into my pajamas, I clambered into my bed, moving Patrick carefully aside. He didn't even stir. Looking around, I saw that both Adams and Robinson had copied my actions, and were both in their separate beds. I smiled at them both and said "Today has been so great, I love Hogwarts already. But I suppose we ought to get some sleep, right?" Hearing muttered agreements, I laid my head gingerly down beside Patrick, facing away from him so his tail wouldn't hit me and wake me up. I tossed and turned in bed for a while before finally dropping off, unsure of how I was feeling; maybe it was just the excitement of the new day tomorrow would bring, or the fact I was already missing Josie. But no, there was something a little unsettling and I couldn't quite place it, nevertheless I let the feeling drop from my mind and deeply slept until I had to wake early the next morning.


	5. Chapter 5

I groaned as Patrick meowed loudly into my ear, demanding attention. Shoving him away, I pulled the covers over my head, trying to make him understand that I didn't want to deal with him right now. I heard a chuckle from across the room.

"Wow, you really aren't a morning person, are you?" Denise said, failing to suppress an amused grin.

"Go away" I mumbled. It was way too early for jokes and banter.

"Sorry, no can do Beca. We have to head down to the Great Hall soon if we actually want to get a seat" Cynthia Rose called across the room, checking in the mirror that she looked decent enough in her robes. I still refused to get up, and had to be practically dragged out of bed by the pair (Patrick leaping out of the way in alarm) before I would start getting changed. Even then, the only thing keeping me on my feet was the idea that there would be food where we were headed.

"It's too early for people to be up, let alone smiling" I grumbled as we ascended the staircases out of the dungeon. I glared at people that were milling around, grins occupying their faces as they filtered into the room that contained breakfast.

"Oh come on Beca, lighten up. We get our timetables today! Finally, we'll know what lessons we'll be taking on our first day" Cynthia beamed. This did little to change my slouch and frown. A small smile did materialize, however, as I finally entered the Great Hall and saw Jesse goofing around with a crowd of friends he had made in a very short space of time. I suppose his chatterbox nature was endearing to some people, compared to how it irritated me. My roaming eyes fell next upon Chloe, who was seated with Jessica and Ashley, as they compared wands, chattering away in comfortable conversation. As I was realising how wide my smile had gotten at the sight of the redhead I was determined to befriend, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. Whipping round, a feeling of uneasiness settled over me as I saw that Lily girl sat innocently in her seat, whilst Aubrey glared at her from a few places away. Just like me, she looked like she could have sworn that Lily was the source of commotion, but couldn't see any evidence of the crime, nor explain what it was.

I went back to scanning the tables until my gaze found Lucius smiling subtly at me, and waving me over to a seat that he had saved. How he had managed to save it from all of the older students I didn't know, but made a note to ask. I turned to address Adams and Robinson.

"Uhm guys, do you mind if I don't sit with you for breakfast today? Only someone-a friend really- has saved a seat for me. And I don't want to refuse after he- I mean they- went to the trouble of saving it for me…" I stuttered. _Nice one Mitchell_ I thought dryly _Now they're going to assume all the wrong things._

Seeing the 'knowing' look they gave each other, I quickly made an attempt to squash any ideas they might have gained. "No! No, it's not like that!" They just smirked at each other, then me, and walked past either side of me. I spun on the spot, desperately calling after them. "Guys, you don't actually think that do you? He's a FRIEND I made before my sorting! Just don't…. don't go getting the wrong idea" I trailed off, as they clearly weren't going to listen. Letting out a frustrated groan, I started down the other side of the Slytherin house table towards Lucius, who looked impatient and slightly confused. Muttering a stream of curses, I trudged down the long aisle. Maybe Denise did have a point about the morning thing…

A few places away from my seat, a skinny boy rose from his place. As I was watching my feet, and not where I was going, I didn't see him start his brisk pace up the aisle until he had crashed into me. Glancing up, I took in his appearance. He had dark black hair, which was styled perfectly, and his robes could have been sewn on, they were so precise. He couldn't have been more than 2 years older than me, but he still towered over me. From his chiseled features, one might have said that he was quite attractive, but he wasn't really my cup of tea. Or at least, he definitely wasn't after he opened his mouth.

"Watch where you're going, you swine" he spat.

I was too shocked to apologise, or even retort, before he was marching away towards the doors and hopefully far away from me.

Huffing, I dropped into my place beside Lucius. I was still frowning when I asked: "Who the hell was that?!". Barely glancing up from his toast, Lucius replied offhandedly "Oh, that's Tom Riddle. You don't want to mess with him. He has a lot of power in the Slytherin common room."

"Oh yeah?" I scoffed "How do you know that?"

Lucius glanced up at this, a bit taken aback at my tone. "Boy, you are not a morning-"

"A morning person, yeah yeah, just answer my question." I demanded. He replied that Tom had been bragging about how he was a direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin, the founder of our house. I scoffed once more before starting to pile scrambled eggs and bacon onto my plate.

I was halfway through my helping of breakfast when a curt voice made me jump, very nearly spilling my pumpkin juice all over my lap.

"Mitchell. Malfoy. I assume you wish for your timetables, or would you rather continue to eat like there's no tomorrow?" I hadn't even noticed Professor McGonagall approaching us until she had spoken. Quickly looking up, my heart sank at the sight of the strict teacher's face in its usual frown. Sighing internally, I knew that the rare occurrence of her smile at the sorting would never return, for she had taken the correction of my name very badly.

"Yes Miss, sorry Miss, I would like the timetable Miss" Lucius grovelled, causing me to roll my eyes. I immediately regretted this move, however, as McGonagall glared at my gesture. I repeated what Malfoy had said with a bowed head, and only raised it slightly to see that I had grasped the piece of paper that she had held out.

As the middle-aged witch marched away to her next victim, Lucius and I couldn't contain our snorts of laughter at the encounter.

"Are you going to work, or sit there and fill your faces?!" Lucius mimicked, causing me to clutch my stomach as fresh rolls of laughter poured out my mouth. A good few minutes later, Lucius wiped the tears from his face and stood up, still giggling mildly "Come on B, we have Charms first." He reached down and pulled his bag over his shoulder before starting to depart. I heaved a sigh, and followed him, after grabbing a piece of bacon from the nearest platter to keep me occupied until I reached the classroom.

By the time we had reached 2E, the charms classroom on the third floor, we were already a few minutes late to the lesson after getting lost several times and also due to the fact that it was all the way on the other side of the castle from the Great Hall. "Come on in! Hurry up! Find a seat! You can't sit together so find- WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! You almost knocked over my most precious vase. Present from my mother that! Alright, do settle down, settle down." Professor Flitwick's chirpy voice rung out around the room as I clumsily made my way to one of the remaining seats on the end of the second row of desks. _Oh great. I'm sat right under his nose_ I thought, with an internal groan. The classroom had three rows of desks all facing towards the teacher, and there were two blackboards behind the teacher who was sat at a high-risen desk and peered at me through spectacles that he was wearing. I looked around and saw that everyone else, including Lucius, was prepared and waiting for the lesson to start so I readied my things for the lesson and was abruptly stopped.

"Mitchell?" He called. I raised my hand in response; too tired and embarrassed to actually reply, to which he narrowed his eyes and muttered under his breath about how rude I was. I sank lower into my chair and crossed my arms over my books, also lowering my gaze as I did so. Mentally kicking myself for being so clumsy, and drawing attention to myself AND annoying the teacher before I'd even said anything. A frown creased on my forehead as I worked myself into despair. That's when I noticed who was sat there watching me. Chloe. She was in the row in front of me, one seat to the right, and was smiling at me. In the mood I was in after those series of events, no one could have cheered me up, but nevertheless I managed a grimace back at Chloe.

The first part of the lesson was pretty slow, and I often found myself trying to stay awake through the nattering Professor's introduction on the subject. "Now, time for your first charm!" the sudden voice raise made me jump and immediately disposed of any tiredness I was feeling. _Now this sounds MUCH more interesting!_ I thought, noticing that the whole class seemed to brighten at the concept. "Right. Get out your wands and follow my movement very carefully" I tsked at the way his tone sounded so patronising, which turned a few heads at me, and had Lucius snickering. I copied the wand actions, mimicking them the best I could, determined to make up for my previous mistakes in class. When Lucius looked at me though, I rolled my eyes exasperatedly. Whenever the short adult turned around, either to write something on the blackboards, or demonstrate actions so we could see which arms to use, the blonde and I would pull faces at each other from across the room. This game soon escalated so that the challenge was to pull the most grotesque face possible. Once or twice, I caught Chloe looking amusedly at us, a small smile playing across her lips. In too good of a mood to roll my eyes, I simply scrunched my nose and poked the tip of my tongue out at her. The smile gave way to a grin that was soon followed by an attempt to repeat what I had done. This proved to be difficult for her, as she was too busy trying not to laugh. I smiled at her before returning my attention to Flitwick, looking as attentive as I could as he turned around.

Unfortunately, we may have taken the game a bit too far, for one time, Flitwick turned around just as my poor friend was in the middle of imitating what looked like a gargoyle/troll mix. A very stern look was cast over Lucius as he shrank in his seat. Luckily, he got off with a warning that the next time he would have points docked from his house. As soon as the professor's back was turned, however, Malfoy and I burst into barely-contained silent giggles. Pretty much the rest of the lesson was spent smirking at each other whenever we made eye contact, and trying to not burst out laughing.

"And that concludes today's lesson, so please, please practice: WITH CAUTION- might I add! And Amy, you might want to work on your pronunciation, I understand your accent might not help but you can at least try…" the professor motioned for us to pack our things and leave the room, but I was ready and out of my seat the second he mentioned 'the end' of the most ludicrously disappointing lesson ever. I had been hoping we'd see and do more than watch him make a feather levitate. I then envisioned what would have happened if I made the vase levitate and smashed it.

"Hey clumsy." a voice taunted, snapping me out of my daydream.


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh hi!" as I pivoted, and tried to quickly hide my surprise.

"It's Beca right? I'm-" the red-headed girl was cut off as she was whisked away by her control freak of a friend for a second time. I stood there on the spot for a second, blinking as I tried to figure out where the bossy blonde had come from. I put two and two together as I saw another class emerging from the Charms classroom across the hallway. Gritting my teeth, I decided that I wasn't going to let her be taken away again.

"Hey! Chloe!", I hollered, marching over "Sorry we didn't get to formally meet before, and just now, but your 'friend' ju-" I was rudely interrupted. Again.

"I'm Aubrey and we're late t-"

Time she had a taste her own medicine I thought, as I let my head roll idly towards her so I was glaring up at her.

"Yeah, I really don't care…" I said in a monotonous voice, sneering at the blonde girl in front of me, before I turned to face Chloe again, putting my sweetest smile on. There, that should teach her.

"What lessons do you have next? I've got History of Magic, then Care of-" I started, only to be joined by Chloe.

"Magical Creatures! Me too! I can't wait, especially as you'll be having it too.", she exclaimed, flashing me her biggest smile.

"Right, I didn't know that, but now I do eh? So I guess I'll see you after next lesson?" I smirked at Aubrey, who had crossed her arms, displeased that Chloe and I would be having classes together.

"Yeah sure. Bye Beca!" the redhead replied, giving me a hug. I tensed up underneath her arms; it felt odd to have someone other than Josie hug me. I soon relaxed into it though, raising my arms to her back. I then decided to childishly stick my tongue out at Aubrey, knowing full well Chloe wouldn't see. Aubrey shot me a death glare, but it paled in comparison to mine, and she didn't scare me. Once released from the embrace, I took the opportunity to top it all off.

"Bye Chloe", I waved and turned, only to gasp as though I had forgotten something and turned back to the pair " Bye Audrey, it was nice meeting you…"

With that, I turned on my heel, clutching my books tightly to my chest as I tried to hide my obvious smile, and made my way to History of Magic.

Clutching the handle of the door to my History of Magic classroom (4F), I took in a deep breath, apprehension filling my chest. I knew this was going to be an awful lesson. I just knew it.

"Come on Beca, what's taking you so long? Just turn it and go in!" Denise urged me. Drawing in another breath, I finally entered the room. The first thing I saw was my Dad, clad in his suit and clothes, as he smiled at the newcomers.

He greeted us with an enthusiastic demeanor; "Welcome to History of Magic! Please, take a seat wherever there's one available. There's plenty on the front row; don't worry, I don't bite, unlike werewolves, which we'll be studying today…" I had to stifle a groan at the awful joke my dad- the teacher- had cracked.

My eyes left his face, and instead swept the room, looking for an acceptable space to sit in. True enough, most of the spaces left were in the front row. I have GOT to get to classes earlier I noted. A few unfamiliar faces looked up at me from their places, until I found Stacie and Aubrey (how had she overtaken me?), sat together in the front row. Another groan almost passed my lips as I caught sight of Aubrey sitting upright and attentive in her space, waiting patiently for the lesson to start with her hands clasped on her desk. Whilst I may have been able to hold back my sound of displeasure at being in the same class as Control Captain, I couldn't stop myself scoffing and rolling my eyes. This brought the tall brunette's attention to me, causing her to smile and pat the seat next to her. Sighing quietly, I strode over to her and dumped my bag beside me as I lowered myself into the chair. As Denise and Cynthia Rose had followed me, I ended up between Stacie and Cynthia Rose.

"Hi, I'm Stacie, it's nice to meet you" she offered, the smile still occupying her features.

Attempting to smile through my discomfort of being in my Dad's class, I replied "Yeah, I saw you at the sorting. I'm Beca, Beca- uhhh… yeah, I'm in Slytherin." cringing at my obvious mistake of almost saying my last name, I attempted to cover it up, and did so poorly.

"Right. I was placed in Ravenclaw with Aubrey." She gestured over her shoulder at the blonde, who quickly looked away, but not before I caught her glare. "So History of Magic. Pretty boring stuff, huh?" she inquired, surveying me with an evaluating look through narrowed eyes.

Shifting uncomfortably under her gaze, I opened my mouth to reply when, much to my relief, the teacher started talking. "Alright, quiet now, I think everyone has arrived, so we can start the lesson." He shot me a quick smile, which was quickly suppressed again as I shook my head slightly in warning. Clearing his throat, my dad continued. "Can anyone tell me anything about the Werewolf Code of Conduct? Yes, you… I'm sorry I don't know your name?" he inquired as he pointed to Aubrey, whose hand had shot up the moment the question had been voiced. I rolled my eyes again, and slouched down into my seat, folding my arms. This lesson already blew.

"I'm Aubrey, Sir. Aubrey Posen." the girl gushed, before carrying on. "The Werewolf Code of Conduct was developed in 1637 by the British Ministry of Magic. It was a set of rules outlining the responsibilities of werewolves across the country, such as preventing any possible attacks by locking themselves up securely every month" she rattled off. What a brown noser I thought as I sneered at Aubrey. My father, on the other hand, looked immensely pleased.

"That's correct, well done Aubrey. Of course, this was all ultimately a failure, because no one wanted to come forth as a werewolf…." A few more minutes passed with him talking about this code thing, before he clapped his hands together.

"Ok, so that's all you need to know abou the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct for the exam! Let's move on. The last thing we'll be studying today is Uric the Oddball. Now, I know we have a few oddballs in this class…" his eyes crinkled when he smiled as they swept his audience, and shone as they saw my eyeroll. "But I'm sure none of you have ever worn a jellyfish as a hat!" He chuckled softly to himself, and a couple of the Ravenclaws politely joined in. I merely scoffed, this time loud enough for him to hear. I distinctly remembered the day that he had come home at the end of a term teaching at Hogwarts, his eyes glittering as he recounted coming up with that joke 'on the spot', and how he had everyone 'crying with laughter'. Obviously, he had been lying.

"Uric the Oddball was born in the middle ages, and actually attended Hogwarts, having been sorted into Ravenclaw!" Glancing around, I saw some proud smiles on some of the unknown students' faces. "He actually slept in his room with no fewer than 50 Augereys, also known as the Irish Phoenix. Their mournful cries supposedly foretold death..." I couldn't resist leaning forwards slightly to stare pointedly at Aubrey, knowing she'd understand the connection I'd made with the similar names, and also the awful mood the both of them put everyone in. "...causing Ulric to believe that he was dead one night, resulting in him having a 10-day concussion from trying to walk through a wall. One particular part of his research was attempting to prove…." I sat up, then leant back in my seat effortlessly, my gaze shifting to the window. I was perfectly content; just sat there staring into space, while my dad's words washed over me. Only the occasional joke of his breaking through my barrier of disinterest. These included him replying "Hi Confused, I'm Professor Mitchell" after a student had stated that he was confused (the joke fell short upon this student, so the teacher merely shook his head with his mischievous smirk that I had inherited, and instead explained the part the student hadn't understood); and when Denise asked if she could use the toilet, he grinned and said "I'm sure you CAN, but whether or not you MAY is my decision." At this, I sighed and rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time. This joke had been used so many times on me as a child to try and correct the phrasing of my questions, until I didn't even think about saying 'may' instead, and the joke wasn't even funny. Every time, it seemed, that I started to pay attention, another cringeworthy jest happened, which always lead up to an eyeroll, following either a cringe, or a sigh. Eventually, I gave up, and returned my attention to the window, with my chair once again on half the legs it had been given. I was very relaxed just rocking gently back and forth, until I felt Stacie lean in towards me from my right.

"So your dad….. he's an alright teacher, isn't he?" I swear I almost broke my neck at the speed I turned my head towards her, the front two legs of my chair making abrupt contact with the ground. "It's alright, don't worry" Stacie assured, holding her hands up slightly at my shocked, but still menacing glare "I won't tell anyone." Just as I opened my mouth to speak, she continued to talk, answering the exact question I was going to ask. "How did I know? I just figured it out. I saw him smile at you as you went up to the stool, but I thought he was just being friendly. But now, he's letting you get away with scoffing and so many eye rolls I've lost count, when he would probably tell anyone else off. Plus, I knew the name Mitchell sounded familiar to me, so it just sort of clicked when you sat down, and I saw the similarities between you. You smirk the same, you know." she added. After her explanation, I sat still, staring dumbfoundedly at her for a few seconds, before my eyes narrowed. I looked quickly around her to make sure no one else had heard. Aubrey was busy alternating between nodding at my dad, and furiously scribbling notes down, so she was no worry. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I swiveled in my newly-grounded seat, to end up practically nose-to-nose with CR as she leant over from her chair. Quickly scooting backwards, I watched as she whispered to Stacie that she thought she was the only one who would figure it out. Quickly interrupting Stacie as she shook her head and replied in a hushed tone that she had known for a while but didn't know quite how to ask, I hissed at the taller brunette "You'd better not tell anyone…" She simply mimicked my signature move for this lesson and rolled her eyes.

"I already told you I wouldn't keep your knickers on." she joked. Sighing, I dragged a smile onto my face and shook hands with Stacie as well, finalising the promise. From that point on, the rest of the lesson passed quite quickly as Stacie, Cynthia Rose, Denise and I all quietly talked to each other, whilst Aubrey regularly glared at us, and my father studiously ignored us.

At the end of the lesson, 'Professor Mitchell' dismissed us with a smile and some lame one-liner about seeing us soon, and I rushed out, relieved to finally be free of that stuffy classroom. Denise and Cynthia Rose had stayed back to ask him a question about Urwin, or whatever his name was.

Stacie jogged to catch up with me. "Beca, it was nice meeting you, I'll see you around?" she queried.

This time I returned her smile genuinely "Yeah, that'd be great." I watched as the brunette turned around and strolled back to where Aubrey was waiting by the door, before turning away to descend the steps towards the dungeons, and my common room.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE I MEANT TO THEN FORGOT IM SO SORRY. So both me and my friend are now back at school, so updates may slow down, although we're gonna try our best to keep it weekly. As always, feel free to leave reviews/suggestions for plot development, and we'll do our best to include your ideas :)**

By the time I had reached the comfort of my common room, Lucius was already sprawled across one of the sofas by the fire. I sat down next to him with an elongated huff, causing him to look at me concernedly.

"What's up, B?" he asked

"Just had an awful lesson" I muttered, closing my eyes and tilting my head back to lean it against the back of the sofa "The teacher was trying _way_ too hard to impress us and get us to like him."

Lucius ahhh'd in understanding and, much to my relief, simply settled into a comfortable silence instead of pushing me for more information. After a few moments, I decided to exchange the books in my bag for the ones I would need for the next few lessons: Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Once I had finished my task, Lucius rose from his seat and we walked together, me listening to the description of his last lesson. We parted ways at the entrance hall; him heading up the marble staircase towards the Astronomy tower, and me out of the doors, heading down the grounds towards the cluster of people I could only just see at the edge of the Forbidden Forest that Dumbledore had mentioned in his speech at the beginning of the night that we first arrived at Hogwarts.

As I was walking, I felt a hand, then arm, slip through the gap between my own arm and body. I looked around, slight panic rising in my chest, and surprise evident across my face, only to be reassured by the sight of sky blue eyes glittering as the owner smiled at me.

"Tt, Chloe" I tutted, "You almost gave me a heart attack!" She merely giggled while I tried, and failed, to glare at her; instead joining in with her laughter. It was a good sound; our laughs mixing together. Once we had gotten a grip upon ourselves, we proceeded to make our way down towards the ever-enlarging group of students at the bottom of the hill. A grin stretched across Chloe's face, and a smirk adorning mine. She really did have a lovely smile

As we reached the bottom of the hill, we were greeted by a brisk, official voice. "Come on boys, hurry up, we haven't got all day!" ….Boys? I looked over my shoulder, to see that a few hufflepuff boys were trailing behind us. _Well that makes a change. Not last to the lesson…_ I thought bemusedly. Chloe giggled at the confused expression on my face, which caused me to grin at her without thinking, but quickly covering it with a scowl before she could see it.

"What are you laughing at, Beale?" I demanded (or at least tried to). She, frustratingly, just shook her head, whilst her giggles faded to a smile. While we waited for the guys to catch up, to many cat calls from the assembled class, I unlinked our arms. There were two reasons behind this manoeuvre: I didn't want anyone to think I was some sort of pansy; and I was getting slightly uncomfortable at the prolonged contact with a person who was pretty much a stranger. Chloe didn't really seem to mind though, instead moving a bit closer to stand just behind me at my side, so I couldn't quite see her in my peripheral vision, but I could hear her breathing, so I knew that she was still there.

Once the late-comers had arrived, the witch introduced herself as Professor Kettleburn, then swiftly herded us towards some paddocks just around the corner of some sort of hut structure. Situated in the seperate paddocks were a couple of dozen Hippogriffs, Unicorns and Nifflers. When they came into sight, there was a collective gasp and "awwwhhh"s from the mouths of all of the girls apart from me, as I just rolled my eyes at this reaction. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Chloe giggling again, but when I turned to her, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as she simply smiled at me. Quickly returning the smile, I turned away, my smile dissolving into a slight frown, and followed the teacher to the last enclosure.

"These are Kneazles." Professor Kettleburn informed, presenting a feline-like creature to the class. The odd beast strongly resembled Patrick with its wide-set eyes and horrendous amounts of fur. The major differences being the large ears which curled up at the tips like a pixie's; the extra tufts of hair on the tip of a rather disproportionately sized tail; and with more fur forming a lion's mane around it's grumpy features. "For those of you with cats, today's task may be easy. Once I have demonstrated how to feed, pet and tame the more aggressive of Kneazles, you will each work with the creature assigned to you and your partner." She turned on her heel, and proceeded to demonstrate what she had just said, while pointing out the key points in a quiet voice so as to not disturb the creature in front of her. _Wait! Partner?_ I thought, expressing clear confusion as I frowned.

As she finished, Kettleburn turned away from the animal, striding back to the fence and returning to her normal brisk tone. "The pairs you are put in today will remain the same for the rest of the term in my lessons. If you don't like it, then tough." With that, she moved through the crowd of students, placing them in twos. When she reached the small group that had congregated around where I was stood, one of the students asked to go with a specific person. The teacher frowned and purposefully put them with different people. As she reached me, I tensed, waiting to see what person of the class she would put me with. To my surprise, she gestured me towards the redhead behind me.

She gave me her sunniest smile, and I couldn't resist returning the gesture as the teacher moved away. "So. It looks like you're stuck with me for a whole term then." I deadpanned, smirking at her.

"I know, it's great!" She enthused, choosing to ignore the sarcasm dripping from my voice. "It should be really fun! I've always wanted to do Care of Magical Creatures. Although, I think some of the creatures might scare me..." A worried expression overtook her face. I scoffed at her, but smiled afterwards. Totally because I needed to have a partner who I could work with, and not because I didn't want to seem mean and hurt her feelings. The red headed cautiously smiled back, before we turned to the front to await further instructions.

When Professor Kettleburn was finally finished separating us into pairs, she beckoned us forward towards the fence lining the enclosure. Her next action was to start assigning Kneazles to each pair. Chloe and I ended up with a particularly restless one. Glancing over at Chloe's slightly worried face, I smiled reassuringly, and approached the small beast slowly, extending a flat hand cautiously towards its nose so it could get used to my smell. When I got nearer, and it started to back off, I smoothly dropped to my knees so I was nearer to its level, keeping my hand perfectly still as I made encouraging sounds. Tentatively, the feline padded forwards and inhaled my scent. Once deciding that I was not a serial killer or something else bad, it nuzzled against my hand, wanting fuss. I willingly obliged, smirking at how it had a light purr.

"Woah..." a voice said softly. _Shit_ I'd forgotten Chloe was there: all my thoughts had gone into making myself less of a threat to the Kneazle. "How did you- where did you learn- _woah_ " she repeated. I stood up, blushing slightly as I asked her where her horse was. This remark was immediately followed by a cringe. _Nice Beca. Now you're inheriting dad's lame jokes._ I thought. To save myself from cringing at Chloe again, I looked around me to see that no one else had managed to get close to their Kneazles, who were all running away from the students. I quickly made to step away, but the creature followed me, intertwining itself with my legs.

"Can you teach me?" I barely heard the request,t for it was practically whispered. I did hear it though, and simply nodded and started instructing the redhead.

"Ok so you want to be as small of a threat as possible, so make sure to get down low if it starts to look uncomfortable. This is because you're making yourself smaller and so less intimidating. First thing to do is allow it to smell you, so it can decide whether it likes you or not- which it will" I hastened to add, and a look of alarm flashed across Chloe's face. "Ok. Start walking towards me, nice and slowly, that's it. Ok, stop right there. Now, crouch down- preferably onto your knees- good." I watched carefully as the cat look-alike started its way over to Chloe. "Right. Now, if it makes eye contact, blink slowly. It's the way cats signal to each other that they're friends. If it returns the gesture, then it is willing to accept you. See? Like that. Ok, rub your first two fingers and thumb together- it's an encouraging sound. There you go!" I beamed, as the Kneazle finally accepted fuss from the offered hand. "Make sure you do nice even, firm strokes. It's more soothing than uneven ones. See? It loves it!" Returning to Chloe's side, I joined in fussing the beast between us who was purring as loud as a tractor.

Professor Kettleburn arrived a few seconds later, complimenting us on our handiwork, but was whisked away quickly by the worrying sound of a growl from the other side of the enclosure.

"Beca?" Chloe started softly, still focussed on the Kneazle, which was now lying on its side, basking in all the attention. I hummed in response "Where did you learn all this?" I looked up, seeing Chloe looking directly at me, eyes searching my face as though the answer would be hidden there.

"Uhh I have my own cat- Patrick. I got him a couple of months ago as a congratulations-for-getting-into-Hogwarts prize. My sister helped me pick him. He was really shy when we first got him, so I had to learn some tips and tricks to try and get near enough to him to be able to let him know I could be trusted."

"You have your own pet? Oh, neat! My parents wouldn't let me get one; said I needed to focus on my studies, not on taking care of a dependent being." She sighed, and I felt empathetic to her situation.

"If you want, you can visit my dorm and spend some time with Patrick? I'll let you into the common room?" I offered, looking directly at her, with no trace of a smirk or eyeroll, so she knew I was being deadly serious. Seeing the apprehensive look on her face, I guessed the idea of voluntarily entering the common room of the most notoriously selfish and vindictive house scared her. I quickly changed plan "Or we could just meet up in the lower school grounds and hang out for a bit, and I can bring Patrick?" I knew I had said the right thing as a relieved smile split across Chloe's face.

"Yeah that sounds great! How about-" just as she was about to suggest a time for our 'meet up', a booming voice cut across her.

"Well would yer look at tha'? I reckon tha's the fastest approach onna Kneazle we ever seen, ain't it Potburn?" Chloe and I turned our heads simultaneously to see Professor Kettleburn wince at the mistake of her name.

"It's Kettleburn, actually" she informed crisply, clasping her hands behind her back. If the giant man she was addressing had heard, he didn't pay her any mind; his laugh booming across the grounds. Squinting slightly into the sun, a smile spread across my features, seeing Hagrid's friendly face grinning back at me.

"I'll tell yer, whenever I've come down this far throu' the lesson on my preevus years of workin' 'ere, I ain't never seen any students already sat with their Kneazle, at ease enough to jus' be chattin'. Let alone havin' the Kneazle jus' layin' contently in the grass. Tha's some real skill you two 'ave got there" he beamed at the pair of us sat on the floor, his eyes alight.

Just as I went to thank him on both our behalfs, Chloe spoke up.

"It was all Beca actually" she gestured towards me, to which I started to go red, not wanting to be the centre of attention. I was about to comment on how it was nothing really, but Hagrid also beat me to replying.

"Well, Beca, ev'n I dunno 'ow you do it! Youse'll have to be teachin' me them techniques you was usin'." I tried to shrug it off and muttered "Yeah, maybe", staring at the ground. But Chloe wasn't having any of it…

"I guess Beca's just a bit shy, and trying to stay badass although she clearly is just a big softy!" Chloe teased, nudging me and winking when she said 'badass'.

"Chloe..." I hissed, throwing her one of my death glares, which barely lasted two seconds when she started mischievously grinning at me.

"Well th'n, I better get goin'- the pumpkins won' grow themselves…" he sighed, as he turned away, giving a cheerful wave to the rest of the students, who had barely noticed his presence; far too preoccupied with the creatures in front of them. "I'll be seein' ya, Kettlescorch"

"It's Kettleburn!" the woman called after the diminishing figure, but once again her correction fell upon deaf ears.

By the end of the lesson, only two other pairs had managed to 'tame' their Kneazle, and a few others sustained some minor scratches and instructions to see Madame Pomffrey (the school nurse) just in case.

"Don't worry!" the teacher called after the disheartened class as we walked away "We'll carry on next time! You will be feeding them before you even know it!" her last action was to wave curtly at us before turning away to prepare for her next lesson as we started to make our way back up the grounds towards the castle.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE, I had a lot going on this weekend. Just wanted to let you know that due to our different schedules, homework, and prefect/drama duties, we have next to no time together to write. So not only will it most probably take a bit longer to get out each chapter, but it looks like I might have to take on quite a bit of the writing duties around my prefect duties and homework and stuff, so apologies if the writing style seems to massively change. But no fear! We shan't give up on this story!**

"So... I guess I'll see you around" I said, shuffling my feet, wanting to get to my next class.

"Yeah, definitely! I look forward to it!" Chloe beamed at me. Just as I turned to walk away, I felt a hand quickly grab my sleeve. Confused, I turned my head to look quizzically at Chloe. She just looked intently at me for a moment before her smile reappeared, and she informed me; "you know Becs, I think we're gonna be really fast friends."

My face split into a genuine grin at the new nickname as I nodded, replying "Yeah. I hope so." And with that, we went our separate ways.

As I stood in the dingy classroom, I cautiously eyed up the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Her name was apparently Professor Merrythought. She was a very drab woman, with thin, mousy, chin length hair, and thin rimmed glasses. The watery blue eyes behind them scanned the growing crowd of Slytherins, and settled on me for a bit longer than I would have liked. I assumed that she knew about my father. Once her gaze had moved on, I breathed freely again, and watched her examine a few of the other students, as if eyeing up who would be the most trouble.

While I was still surveying the woman, I heard a voice behind me.

"If you take a picture, it'll last longer." I could hear the smirk in Lucius' voice.

Without turning round, I elbowed him in the side and joked "Why, when I have you to gaze upon all day?", with as much sarcasm as I could lace into the words. Lucius merely chucked and muttered 'touchè'.

When the lesson started, I realised that the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover' definitely applied here. Professor Merrythought was a very cheerful woman; enthusiastic about the class she taught, and encouraging to the students who weren't sure about answers. As she taught us about doxys- evil little flying creatures with sharp, venomous teeth- she managed to keep it interesting, whilst conveying necessary information.

Sat in between Lucius and Denise, with Cynthia Rose next to her, many jokes were made, causing us to have to try and stifle our laughter. Instead of telling us off however, the teacher merely politely reminded us a few times that we were in a lesson, obviously trying to not laugh at our antics.

As the lesson drew to a close, I decided that Defense Against the Dark Arts was definitely one of my favourite subjects. Walking out the door as a group, my friends and I started to trudge our way down three floors to the Great Hall, all of us more than ready for lunch.

When I entered I was in high spirits. This was only reinforced by the fact that when I glanced over at the Hufflepuff table, Chloe beamed and waved at me. Returning the gesture, I grinned at the redhead. Before my friends could notice, however, I dropped my hand. Just before I turned away, I saw Jessica and Ashley craning their necks to see who Chloe had waved at, whilst she sat opposite them, arms crossed, with a smirk plastered across her face. It wasn't quite as good as mine, but still very mischievous. As I was starting to follow Lucius down the aisle to some empty seats, a familiar blonde sat glaring at me from the Ravenclaw table. Having noticed this, I turned myself fully in her direction, and gave her a sarcastic smile and a wave.

We all mounded our plates with food, myself opting for roast beef, potatoes, yorkshire puddings, and carrots; and started to eat it as quickly as possible in order to get to our next lessons on time. Having swallowed my third mouthful, I turned to CR.

"So what's the deal with the lessons? I have some classes with this gi- with the Hufflepuffs, and some with Ravenclaws, and yet Defence Against the Dark Arts is just with you guys."

Cynthia Rose nodded her head in understanding of my confusion. "Well, in most classes, they pair two houses together so you actually have the chance to socialise with people outside of your own house. It's supposed to support the idea of interrelations of the different houses by making links and whatnot, but from what I've seen, it doesn't work fantastically."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that…" I muttered, my eyes wandering to Stacie was sat chatting to Aubrey, who was replying perfectly calmly to her. I was slightly surprised that she had a low-key side. Brushing past this, I looked beyond Stacie to Chloe, who was wildly gesticulating to Jessica and Ashley, at the Hufflepuff house, sporting a massive grin and with a full plate in front of her.

"Mmhmm yeah it's alright, I've made a couple of friends, but the houses still aren't particularly chummy."

"Why, who are you talking about Beca?" Denise queried through slitted eyes. My gaze snapped back to her face as I felt the heat rush to my face.

"What? No one. Nothing. I mean, that Stacie girl in Ravenclaw is nice, and I made friends with Amy and Jesse in Gryffindor, and I suppose the hufflepuffs are ok…" I blabbered. Lucius and the girls merely laughed at me so I glared at each of them in turn before proceeding to my next question with a huff.

"Ok, so answer me this; why are we not together for Care Of Magical Creatures, because that's Slytherins and Hufflepuffs!"

"Oh yeah" Lucius mumbled through a mouthful of food. I cringed at this action, but let him carry on "I asked a prof about that." he swallowed "There's apparently two sets per pairing. So say for Care Of Magical Creatures, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins are together, so there'd be two sets of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, who are better." he added unnecessarily, causing me to roll my eyes. Ignoring his chuckle, I nodded and thanked Cynthia Rose for the information.

Once we were all done, we exited the great hall and made our way back out to the grounds towards the greenhouses.

"Wow B, a whole afternoon filled with me, you must be so pleased at this privilege." Lucius smirked in my direction, his walk containing a swagger I knew I had to rid him of.

"Yes. I am so pleased. My heart is filled with joy. Please someone calm me down. I might explode from excitement." I monotonously deadpanned. I saw the gloatful expression slip off his face to be replaced by a scowl, and knew my job was done. I did, however smirk at him so he knew I was joking.

Herbology was quite uneventful, nothing special, but not too boring to the point that I was watching my watch. The usual lighthearted atmosphere was set around me and my friends, as we joked through the lesson. The teacher was alright, a roly poly, curly haired witch named Sprout, who was a bit stricter upon us than Merrythought and my dad were, but did so with a kind air.

Relieved that the first, tiresome day was over, I dragged my heavy bones down to the Slytherin common room with my companions. Heaving a deep sigh, I started to mimic Denise opposite me and pulled out my books to start on the homework we were given today before dinner. Lucius started whining about having to do more work outside of lessons before Cynthia Rose chided him that if he didn't make a start now then it would all pile on top of him. I added my point that he wouldn't want to fail first year because a. He would look totally and utterly stupid because no one fails first year, and b. He wouldn't be with me, and that would break his heart. Poking his tongue out at me, he started extracting his work from his bag.

Around an hour passed without any disturbance, before it happened.

"I thought I warned you to stay out my way, pipsqueak, now get out my chair."

At first I didn't register that I was being addressed, but when I finally looked up after a couple of moments, I saw the same dark haired, dark eyed boy that had bowled me over in the Great Hall. This time, however, I wasn't going to take his crap.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me. We were here first." Tom narrowed his eyes, obviously displeased with my response.

Stepping closer, he hissed " _What did you just say to me?!"_. Many other students had looked around, curiosity aroused by the commotion at me standing up for myself. Literally. I rose from my seat and squared up to him.

"I _said_. We. Were. Here. First. Find somewhere else to sit." Tom opened his mouth to retort, but the voice I heard wasn't his.

"B, just leave it. We'll move Tom. Sorry." Whipping round, I glared at the greasy weasle that owned the name Lucius. "Honestly Beca, drop it. If we just move the there's no hard feelings and-"

"Actually, I feel like an apology is in order" I slowly swivelled on the spot to face the older boy's smug expression.

"And why on earth would I apologise?

"Because, pipsqueak-"

"Don't call me that" I snapped

"Because, _pipsqueak,_ I am a descendent of Salazar Slytherin, and I have a lot of power in this school, not just in the common room. The stupid, gullible teachers at this school believe whatever I say, so I can spin a tale of you, oh I don't know, attacking other students unprovoked. And then where would you be, hmm? Kicked out of Hogwarts without a future."

Looking into the dark pools of his eyes, I knew that Riddle was telling no word of a lie, but I wasn't going to back down that easily. I simply stared at him, my mind whirring.

"Beca, please say sorry"

"It's not worth it, B"

"Beca just apologise so we can get out of here"

Still glaring at the tall student, I spat out a _sorry_ , not meaning it at all, but the smirk on his face only grew; it was apparent that I was convincing enough.

"You know, you have some balls- what is it, Becky?"

"Beca. Beca Mitchell"

"Alright, Mitchell. You're a worthy opponent and Slytherin. You had the guts to stand up to me,when nooone else does, but know when to do what you're told. You should consider joining my… friends…"

Lucius grabbed my arm and dragged me away before I could process what I'd just been told. Looking back, I saw a pair of dark eyes following me as I exited, flanked by my friends so I couldn't do anything stupid

 **A/N: Ooo so much tension! The way this turned out was surprising, and to be honest I'm not sure I like the way it went, but that's the way it wrote itself, so I hope you enjoyed it nevertheless! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: First off** **, HUGE shout out to pineappletini for the first review of this story. It really helped motivate me, because I actually know that it's being well received, and that you're enjoying it. Thank you so much!**

 **Okay enough rambling, here is a not-so-small filler chapter I've done, enjoy! :D**

"What the hell was that for?!", I wrenched my arm out of Lucius' grip.

"Well I'm sorry, but he's a _third year,_ he has power _with the teachers,_ and I would rather not see you jinxed into oblivion" he replied, hands up obviously trying to calm me down. Very ineffectively.

"You don't know what you're on about! I could have taken him! Just because _you_ don't have any guts to-" he flinched. Realising that my words were actually very harsh, I took a deep breath and spoke again "Look. I'm sorry, ok? That guy just really gets on my nerves, I can't stand bullies. Just ugh" I ran my hand distractedly through my hair. "no hard feelings, ok? Thank you for pulling me out there. I probably would have-" pausing, I squashed my pride and continued "Would have been toast". I flashed him a grateful smile, and he visibly relaxed.

"That's ok, I just get a lot of heat from my dad for being a 'chicken' so you really hit home with that one " he rubbed the back of his neck, laughing humorlessly, obviously still not ok.

"Wow. I'm really sorry dude..." I muttered, smiling at him when he reassured me it really was ok, and that I couldn't have known. As of then, my anger had subsided "Seriously, if you ever want to talk I'm here, ok?". He nodded gratefully and we both sighed and turned to catch up with Cynthia Rose and Denise, who had stopped up ahead once they realised we weren't following behind.

All the fight drained from me, I trailed after the others until we reached the library, where we sat and worked through the afternoon on our homework. I had a hard time concentrating, turning over everything that had happened today in my head, but managed to finally finish all my set work. Once we had all finished, we made our way back down to the dungeon, where I (thankfully) made it back to my bed without any sight of Tom.

Lying in bed in my pyjamas, I listened to the breathing of the other girls. One was breathing heavier and slower than the other. I just had to figure out which.

"... Adams?"

"Yeah?" Ok good. It was her who was awake. Don't get me wrong, I had no qualms with Denise but I just felt like Cynthia Rose was easier to talk to.

"What do you think Tom meant earlier when he said I should join his friends?" I heard Cynthia turn over to face me, and did the same to see through the darkness that she was frowning.

"I don't know dude, it was really weird. You guys are at each other's throats and suddenly he's complimenting your bravery and saying you should be friends? It's gotta be something sketchy, and whatever it is, you don't wanna be a part of it." I hummed in reply, having already known that I would never join my sworn enemy's ranks.

"Thanks, night" I said. She wished me a good night's sleep and turned back over. I counted to ten then spoke again.

"Hey, Cynthia Rose..."

"Yeah?" This time she didn't face me. I counted three breaths before I opened my mouth "Never mind, don't worry." Bringing up Chloe would only be suspicious, especially after our conversation at lunch. My courage had fallen through, but maybe I could ask Denise or Stacie about the ginger hufflepuff...

In the morning, I was awoken once again by my over-eager cat once wanting me to pay him attention. As I was in a slightly better mood than I had been the last time, I slowly raised a hand and stroked Patrick's soft fur three times before retracting my hand from the cold outside of my duvet. Listening to his soft purring, I fell asleep once again. I should have known it wouldn't have lasted.

"Come on Beca, get up." The caution in Denise's voice was evident as she stood at the safe distance of the foot of my bed.

Sighing, I grumbled: "They really shouldn't make these beds this comfy if they expect us to be up at unreasonable hours in the morning"

"7am is not an unreasonable hour, Beca" Denise said patiently.

Releasing a prolonged groan, I flipped over to my back, forgetting that Patrick was there and dislodging him from his place. "Shit, sorry puss…" I mumbled. Then again locking eyes with the girl at the foot of my bed, I groaned once more before dropping my head back to my pillow and covering my face with my hands. "I hate this stupid schedule"

"You'll be a lot more partial to it once you've had some food" Cynthia Rose promised me, fixing her tie whilst peering in the mirror. I had to admit this was a good argument, as it had definitely worked yesterday. Still…

"Can't one of you guys be the best friend ever and bring me breakfast in bed?" I whined.

"And what about your classes? Do you expect us to bring your teachers in here for you?" Denise quipped.

"Actually that would be perfect, thank you!" I was apparently in a better mood today as I was able to join in the banter. Resigning myself to having to get up sooner or later, I decided to make it sooner so I could wake up properly before emerging from the dorm room. The three of us got ready swiftly, maneuvering around each other as though it was second nature already to reach for our robes; see the mirror; pack our bags with books; and make our beds. We knew full well that a maid or someone came and cleaned the rooms during the day, but we all mutually agreed that we need not give them any more work than was necessary. After all of this was complete, we made our way down to the scarcely occupied common room to wait for Lucius to join us.

"Well you took your time…" I jokingly remarked as we saw him descend the mysterious steps that led to the boys' dorm room.

"Well, I had to make sure I looked my best just for you" he joked through a yawn. I'll admit, it was nice that I was not the only one who was tired. Denise and Cynthia Rose were just too painfully chirpy to be around in the mornings. Consequently, it ended up being Lucius and myself walking behind the girls up the steps (WHY they thought it would be a good idea to put a common room down a flight of STEPS I will NEVER know) on the way to the great hall.

As we entered, I automatically swept the room with my eyes. I nodded at Jesse who waved energetically at me with a dorky grin sporting his face. Next was clicking my fingers then pointing at Amy as I over-exaggeratedly winked in her direction. Still walking without watching where I was going, my gaze fell upon the hufflepuffs. Despite my normally firm badass attitude, I couldn't help but beam at Chloe as she spotted my congregation and her face split into a sunny smile for me. As she and I turned away, I still couldn't find it in me to stifle my small grin as I sat next to Denise at the Slytherin table. Looking up, I caught Cynthia Rose's confused face.

"What?" I asked tentatively, smiling at her, unable to quash the happy bubble in my chest. She was silent for a beat before suspiciously inquiring as to why I was so happy when I hadn't had any reason to be as it was quote 'too early for you to be human'. I quickly searched through my mind for an excuse, and my thoughts landed on the table in front of me.

"I see food!" I exclaimed. "Everything is bearable with food!"

"Hear hear!" mumbled Lucius through a mouthful of food. Man, I had to make him kick that habit. But even that wasn't enough to make me revert to normal, surly Beca. I filled my plate with french toast and, of course, bacon, and tucked in. Today, I joined in with the other three's conversation, joking and exchanging stories. Even when I was eating, I couldn't keep the twinkle out of my eyes; mornings really were alright. During this time, similar to the way that I can't help blinking, I couldn't help glancing over at the redhead within my sight; my happy mood being sustained in seeing that she as well was laughing and joking with her friends. This lasted all of 20 minutes, when one of my subconscious glances past Cynthia Rose met not Chloe, but her empty space. This wouldn't have been an issue if I hadn't have seen the girl that had been sat one table over, to the negligence of my attention.

Stacie's eyes were narrowed in an analytical gaze as she peered at me. My face slightly fell as I took in her face. She was obviously trying not to smile as she pressed two fingers to her mouth with her chin resting on the rest of her fingers. The intense stare melted to what I could only be described as… _amusement_ as she swiveled in her seat, picked up her bag and stood up. Turning back to me, she winked before sauntering out the great hall. Something about the way she had been surveying me made me uneasy, so I followed her progress with her my eyes.

"Beca!" I snapped out of my internal reflection as a hand appeared alarmingly close in front of my face and clicked. Startled and blinking, I swatted the annoying object away and traced the source to the blonde boy sat across from me. "I _said_ what lesson do you have next? I can't be bothered to check my timetable"

"So you invaded my personal space to make me do something you are too lazy to do?" I grumbled incredulously.

"Yeah pretty much" Lucius beamed, "What were you even _thinking_ about? I could practically _see_ the cogs turning in your head!"

"We have Potions with the Gryffindors" I answered his former question, and purposefully chose to ignore the latter. Luckily, noone noticed as we collected our stuff and retraced our steps to the dungeons.

"She was probably thinking about someone from another table" _Dammit, someone did notice. Good job being discreet Beca._ I internally chided as I whipped around and snapped "What?!" at the origin of the tease: Denise

"Oooohhh you've hit the nail on the head Denise! Who is it? Is it a Gryffindor? No, no, A Ravenclaw! Wait, no! It was a double bluff and it was someone from our table!" Lucius gasped "Was it _Rosier?!"_

"Ok, number one" I said to my awaiting audience of three friends, "I have no idea who Rosier is"

"He's the-" CR started.

" _Second of all_ ," I held up a finger to stop her going any further "You are beginning to sound like Jesse, Lucius, so I suggest you shut up quick." I saw his brow furrow as Denise giggled. Obviously she had had an encounter with the boy.

"Who is Jesse?" Malfoy inquired cautiously. Sighing, I turned around and continued my journey towards Potions.

"Just some kid in Gryffindor. You might meet him soon, actually." I informed him, wincing slightly at the thought of the over-eager attitude of the fellow brunette. Feeling slightly guilty, I made Lucius swear that he would sit next to me on one side, and just hoped that the talkative boy would join his own friends.

 **A/N: I almost forgot: I'm actually going to have to make these updates fortnightly, I'm really sorry I know it's a pain to wait, but I honestly just don't have the time to dedicate to this. That also means that this story might be coming to an end soon because I don't like leaving you all hanging; it's unfair to you all. Most sincere apologies! ~Razzadazza**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Shoutout to 'guest' for the second review. Thank you for your review! No worries, Beca becoming a death eater was never going to happen, and next chapter will be Bechloe filled, so just hold on till then :D**

Sat in the dingy dungeon two rooms away from the common room, I couldn't help thinking it was a waste of time. Where in the hell was the professor? We'd already been here for- I checked my watch- 10 minutes! Surveying the classmates, I couldn't see any of the Gryffindors either. Swivelling in my seat, I addressed Lucius.

"Where are the high and mighty brave ones then?" I asked, sarcasm lacing my words. Snickering, he replied.

"We're just here early, cause we live in the dungeons, so we're closer to the great hall and so quicker to the dungeon again, I'm sure they'll be here any mi-"

"Heeeeeeyyy flat butt!" I could feel the amused smile on my face already as I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

"Amyyyyyyy!" I drawled back, turning round "what's going oooon?"

"Oh you know, having all the sex. The usual." Came the reply, as the Australian plonked herself down in the seat next to me. Remembering who was sat in the other seat beside me, I quickly swivelled in my seat and made hasty introductions.

"Amy, this is Lucius. Lucius this is Amy. She will make these lessons gold. Believe me."

"Some people call me Fat Amy, some people call me the sex machine" the blonde to my right said, winking across me. I cringed both internally and out.

"I'll call you whatever you want me to call you" the blonde to my left said, winking right back. Amy studied the boy carefully for a moment, before she burst out laughing.

"Great friend you've got yourself here, shortstack!" she chuckled. "Well played sir" she directed at Malfoy, nodding. Just as he was about to reply however, I heard a… what can only be described as a noise from across the room.

" Be-CAW!"i

After a few repeats of it, I turned around, and my face immediately turned a bright red, as I saw the stupid stupid figure of one Jesse Swanson descending the dungeon not by the steps, but rather by clambering down through the seats, much to the annoyance of the students in his path.

Groaning, I turned around and tried to shrink into my seat, hoping that he would somehow magically forget I was there. Unfortunately, despite being in a magic school this couldn't happen.

"Wassup J-man, why you be turnin' up late?" Amy called as he came within earshot

"I ain't late 'till the teacher be turnin up" he replied, his stupid grin adorning his face as he carried on whatever skit Amy had started. As they shared a secret handshake I turned, mortified, to Lucius, who was simply staring questioningly at me and informed him that that was the Jesse I was talking about earlier. Having heard this information, he looked torn between being outraged about the earlier insult, and amusement at my embarrassment.

"So Be-caw" Jesse said, sitting down next to Amy and ignoring my death glare at the new 'nickname', "How've you been? Seems like forEVER since I last saw you, although I do sometimes see you in the great hall, and I suppose I did speak to you less than a week ago. But it all seems so long ago! Don't you think? Hi I'm Jesse!" he adds, extending his hand to a bewildered Lucius. This time, it's me who looks amused. I suppose I had more time to get used to Jesse than he's had. "So anyway, like I was saying…. oh yeah! Do you have a favourite subject yet? Mine's-" Thankfully, he was cut off my the door opening, and a man walking in behind his rotund belly.

"Alright, simmer down you lot. First years, mmm? Well, excited you should be" he chucked, heading towards the front of the class. I heard Lucius sigh beside me, and knew exactly what was running through his mind: the pompous tone of the professor (who had introduced himself as Slughorn; I snickered at the name) indicated that he was most likely going to be a boring, old fashioned moron who would set us 3 lots of homework per lesson. Groaning, I slouched down in my seat, already giving up on any hope of fun. But I had forgotten who I had sat next to.

"I bet the only thing that stops him getting to McDonalds is the door" came the whisper from my right. Mood immediately lightened, I snorted at Amy and sat up fractionally. Peering round, I saw Jesse turn to me and give me a huge smile and a double thumbs up, which I rolled my eyes at and turned away to face Malfoy, who pulled a face, then flicked his eyes at the Gryffindor. I felt slightly bad for laughing, but that boy really tries too hard.

"...So!" Slughorn's voice permeated our tomfoolery, and I tuned in. "10 points for whoever turns to page 10 first and tells me what potion we are going to be making!" He looked slightly taken aback at the speed at which Jesse's hand hit the air. "Yes m'boy?" He prompted. Jesse looked down to his desk where his book lay open, and read out "The Forgetfulness Potion". I sighed. I supposed I ought to get my textbook out. As Slughorn declared the addition to the Gryffindor hourglass, I scrabbled through my bag, searching for my book.

"What the-" I muttered, straightening again. "Lucius, have you seen-" I looked around to be greeted with the sight of the boy grinning at me, waving my textbook with one hand.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "Give that back! How did you even- why did you- It was in my bag!"

"Swift fingers, Mitchell" he said with a glint in his eye. "Very useful skill to have". Sighing, I rolled my eyes at him before snatching the book out of his grasp.

"Haha very funny" I said exasperatedly. Turning to the right page, I studied the potion. Didn't look too hard to make. At Slughorn's announcement, we were allowed to start making the potion. I gathered all the necessary ingredients, and headed back to my table. As I approached it, I saw Jesse talking animatedly (I knew he didn't seem to have a different setting but this was especially energetic) to the teacher, whose eyes were lit up as he listened. _Teacher's pet_ I thought, before reprimanding myself for being unnecessarily harsh.

"Hey shorty" I heard the whisper from my side

"I'm not small" I commented second-handedly, as I turned towards her too see her pointing to her own book.

"What does this say?" She inquired, peering through squinted eyes at the text. Confused, I looked over her shoulder for the indicated word. There weren't any marks in the book that made it difficult to read which seemed a bit bizarre, but brushing this off, I replied that it said 'mistletoe berries'. After this, I turned back to my desk, only to have to demand my knife back off Lucius, as he had forgotten his own.

"I'll pay you back for it, I promise", he said winking. I was taken aback by this, before I saw a hint of a smirk through his expression. _Right_ I thought, _Two can play this game._

"Oh yeah, and how are you gonna do that?" I replied, stepping closer, my front almost in contact with his. I couldn't hold my gaze for long however, because I needed to laugh at the panic that had flitted across his face.

"I- I- I didn't think you'd actually you know- flirt back…" he stammered.

"Yes, well." I said crisply, "I am extremely competitive, and it's a fun game. You should have seen your-"

"MISS Mitchell! I hope you're working over there!" Slughorn's call reached me across the table, and I looked around to see that his conversation with Jesse had finished.

"Lucius was talking too!" I protested, not about to let him get away with not being told off.

"Frankly my dear, I don't really care" Slughorn declared, waving his hand. "Good work, m'boy" he said to Jesse as he walked away, patting the boy's shoulder. Peering into his cauldron, I indignantly saw that he was about three steps behind me in making the potion.

I huffed, and turned toward Amy to complain about favouritism, only to see her peering once more at the book with her nose about 2cm from the page. Suddenly, it dawned on me;

"Amy… do you need glasses?". The Aussie's head snapped immediately up, and she hastily shushed me.

"Of course not, this is just how we Australians read…" she laughed, not altogether convincingly, but I let it drop. From that point on in the class, she was careful to keep her head well away from the desk.

At the end of the lesson, the four of us went to walked out together, and said goodbye to Amy at the bottom of the grand staircase, for she had to go a separate way to her next lesson.

"So anyways, I've been invited to some sort of club he runs" Jesse hadn't seemed to realise that the person who had inquired as to his conversation with the teacher had departed. "Oh, and he asked me to invite you, Lucius" he called across me as we traipsed up the stairs to the entrance hall "He apparently knew your father, and is impressed with your heritage. I'm not really sure why he's let me in to be honest, my dad's a milkman; nothing special, but he insisted on me coming. You know, my mum works at…" I zoned out to his voice.

Lucius smirked before turning to me, our steps slowing as we reached our parting point, both of us ignoring the Gryffindor chattering on about something to do with his family. "Hear that? I've been invited to a special club. And you haven't. Although I'm sure that I could take you as a plus one. You know, if you can resist all this" he gestured to himself. Challenge accepted, I looked down at the floor.

"I'm not sure Lucius…. you know, I think if we spend any more time together..." I slowly dragged my gaze up his body to rest on his lips "I won't be able to control my feelings for you..." I bit my own lips, meeting his eyes. This time, instead of a scared look, one of amusement took over the blonde's face. He opened his mouth to respond, but the voice I heard wasn't his.

"Uhm guys... What's going on here?" Jesse tentatively voiced. We both jumped, and turned guiltily around to face the forgotten companion who was shifting nervously from foot to foot.

'Nothing!" I answered quickly before Lucius could put any sort of rubbish in the naïve child's head. "Just joking around. I have to go, and you should too or you'll be late for your lessons. Bye Jesse. Have a good lesson guys." Swivelling on my heel, I marched away, towards the huge doors that led outside.

"Bye baby!" Lucius called after me.

"Don't call me that" I called back without turning round, but raised a hand in place of a good bye.

A moment's silence.

"Bye... sugar lips?" I chuckled but continued walking

"Sweetheart?" He continued to shout "Darling? Cuddle bear? Light of my life?"

"GoodBYE Lucius"

In spite of myself, a smile creeped onto my face. Of course, it was entirely down to the banter between Lucius and myself. Nothing at all to do with the redhead I could already spot down at the area where we would be having our next lesson.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N Hey guys, guess who's back?! That's right! My friend was able to write with me for this chapter *yay yay yay*. She should be back for good, but no guarantees. Anyway, enjoy! (FYI, the stuff in italics is Chloe's PoV: we thought it'd be more appropriate from her)

"Oh my gosh I missed you so much!" No sooner than I had tapped her on the shoulder, Chloe had enveloped me in a hug. I totally didn't smile and reciprocate the hug a bit. No way.

"Yeah, well that's to be expected" I said, withdrawing from the hug quickly, lest she know I actually enjoyed it "I'm an amazing person". She flashed me a dazzling smile, before continuing as if I had never spoken.

"You are a wizard, no pun intended, at care of magical creatures! Look!" she dragged me over to the fence of the paddock in which the cages stood. Not seeing what the girl wanted me to, I turned back to Chloe with a confused face. She giggled.

"That look is adorable on you." She commented. I quickly scowled, and rearranged my features into one of disinterest. Sighing, she turned me around "Look there" she repeated, pointing to a specific cage. Following her directions, I peered into the cage she meant. Inside was the kneazle that we had had last lesson. I saw the tear in its ear that I had apparently subconsciously registered last time. This, however was not what Chloe had wanted to point out to me. Her intent was clearly to show me the behaviour of the magical identified kneazle was straining against the mesh netting across the front of its cage, yowling at us; it was clearly trying to escape and get to us. Sweeping my gaze over the rest of the animals, I could only see one other that showed signs of the same distress. A couple others were watching specific students, but the rest seemed unphased: sleeping, or otherwise disregarding their audience.

"Schnoockums loves me!" she beamed. Attention immediately distracted from the forlorn pet, I whipped around to face Chloe, disbelief on my face.

"Schnookums?! _Seriously_? Seriously. You _named_ it?". Unphased by my disapproval, the redhead widened her eyes in innocence.

"Of course! He needs to know he's loved" Rolling my eyes, I groaned.

"Fiiinee… but not _Schnookums_ for god's sake. Even _Jesse_ is better than Schnookums". Chloe looked slightly crestfallen for a minute before she apparently got an idea, for she brightened up.

"How about Smittens?" I shook my head, wincing. "Marmalade? Periwinkle? Butterbeer? Pushka?"

"Wait a minute" I interrupted. "How about Niko?" I repeated slowly. Glancing back over at the distressed kneazle, I called the name. Immediately, he stopped trying to get out of his cage, and sat up with his ears perked as he looked at me, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"Well, it looks like he likes that" I informed Chloe as I turned back, and saw that she had a smirk on her face. Still not as good as mine, but she was improving.

"I thought you thought that giving her a name is lame?" she inquired, grinning. Shifting from foot to foot, I replied.

"Yeah, well you needed help; all of the names you came up with were awful" I laughed hastily, winking so she would know I was joking. "And besides, it's a _he_." She looked taken aback.

"He is?" I nodded. She turned back to the face and leaned over, calling "Sorry Niko!". even from this distance to the animals, I could hear Niko replying by purring. At that moment, I looked up to see Professor Kettleburn approaching from the other side of the paddock. As she reached us, she called out:

"Right! Luckily for you guys, I labelled your kneazles last lesson after you left, so you know which ones are yours. This lesson you will be continuing to get close to your kneazles, and _hopefully_..." She gave a pointed sideways glance to a pair of students, one of which still had their arm in a sling "... no injuries this lesson." With this, she proceeded to open the cages one by one, and announce the pairs, having read a slip of parchment attached to each of their collars. As she reached Niko's cage, I decided to save her the effort of squinting down at the writing, and called out that he was ours. Her head snapped out, and she hummed.

"Yes…" she muttered "He is, isn't he? Wait there, I want to talk to you when everyone else is with their kneazles." she instructed. Bewildered, Chloe and I looked at eachother with a mixture of fear and confusion. The professor carried on handing out the cat-cross-lions until she reached the other kneazle that had been unsettled, and she told them too to wait. I huffed and sighed through her second demonstration of what to do (We already knew what to do!), but made sure to do it quietly to avoid Chloe's warning looks. Not that I cared what she thought of me. It was just for convenience.

Once everyone was back to 'work' (and by work I mean approaching their kneazles too fast and having to run backwards, or otherwise cowering about three feet away), Kettleburn finally turned her attention the the four worried faces before her.

"Wipe those looks off your faces" she said curtly "You're not in trouble, I merely thought it would be pointless for you to be sat with your kneazles just stroking them for the whole lesson, seeing as how they have already accepted you." She gestured to the two remaining creatures, who were once again showing signs of distress, clearly confused as to why they had been left in captivity while their companions were out with their students.

"This lesson" the teacher continued, "You will be feeding your animals"

Despite my best efforts, I glanced over at Chloe, whose face had immediately been lit up with a massive grin at the prospect of being able to mother the animal even more. At the sight of her unreserved joy, I myself felt a grin adorning my face. Wait… what? No. No grinning. I quickly wiped the smile off my face before anyone would see. I didn't need any teasing about being a softie. I caught the end of Kettleburn's speech about the extra care feeding the kneazle's would require as she finished by saying, "Now, I'm just going to pop to Hagrid's Cabin and will be back in just a moment!"

Once the professor was out of earshot, Chloe squealed excitedly and turned around to grab my arms, which were hanging by my side, and pulled me in so my face was right in front of hers. I jumped and tried to pull back at the sudden movement and invasion of my personal space, but soon relaxed when greeted by the wild blue eyes of my friend.

"Did you hear that?! We get to feed Schnooc- I mean Niko! I'm so glad I met you and that we can be partners in Care Of Magical Creatures and-" Chloe rambled on, but I wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, distracted by her beautiful blue eyes and how bright they were right now to even take it all in. I felt her pull away at the sound of her name being called by Kettleburn.

"Chloe and Marcus, can you come over here and choose the food please? Whilst..." The teacher continued, "Beca and Jonah, you two must get your kneazles to stay calm and still until your partners come back."

I grinned at Chloe as she glanced back at me. "Make good choices!" I called out, giving her a wink and my infamous smirk.

I opened the cage and clicked my tongue twice, beckoning to Niko who immediately walked over to me. He was clearly trying to keep his attention on me and not the tie I had slipped off my neck and was dangling in front of his face. Apparently, this thing had as much pride as I did.

"I'm back," announced Chloe, holding the small pouch of food out for me to take, "I didn't know which one Schn-Niko would want, I really need to stop doing that, so I just picked out the one that looked most like the ones you feed Patrick… I noticed you always carry some around. Oh well, I hope he likes it"

I looked into the small bag, and glanced up at Chloe with a small smirk, "These are perfect," I said pouring a couple of chunks onto my cupped hand. Kneazle who had been glancing back and forth between my tie and me was now greedily following the smell wafting from my closed fist. Reaching out to pet Niko's fluffy mane, I lowered the hand holding the snack and whispered his name over and over. Completely focussing now on making sure he didn't end up biting my fingers off, I watched his body movement. _Okay, he seems relaxed_ I thought as I slowly but confidently started to open my palm and held the scraps out for him to eat off of my hand. Niko hesitantly leant down his nose stopping just millimetres in front of the food, waiting… sniffing the pieces- SNAP! I drew back, closed my eyes and yelped. Wincing, I opened my eyes when I heard Chloe throwing her head back with laughter, one eye at a time and then held my hand up to my face checking it was still there. Sighing with relief and then realising Chloe was still keeled over chortling away, suddenly getting sensitive I stood up.

"What're you laughing at?!" I demanded, trying to keep a straight face.

"You were- so- haha- so focused, and- I can't breathe and then BAM" she laughed in between barely understood words, miming my reaction to Niko's hungry snap and the face I made when I jumped. I pouted and folded my arms, but with Chloe still bent over uncontrollably laughing whilst trying to tell me the story again, I couldn't stay serious for long. Soon we were both rolling around on the floor with belly-aching laughter, and were only able to stop once Professor Kettleburn came over with a stern tone in her voice telling us to stop as we had startled and disturbed the other kneazles.

The rest of the lesson passed quickly after that episode, and it was time to put Niko away. I felt a boost of confidence when he followed my exact commands and pounced up gracefully into his cage.

I was packing my bag and started off towards the Great Hall when I heard "Beca! Wait up!" turning around to see the redhead who had now caught up and linked arms with me. Had it been anyone else I would have pulled away but it was just Chloe so I didn't mind too much.

"So…" She pondered, I turned my head around to look at her waiting for her to continue, "I don't care what Aubrey will say, I mean she thinks that all Slytherins are bad company, tsk as if…."

"She actually _said_ that?!" I pretended to look hurt, giving my impression of the stuck up witch by sticking my nose in the air and by making my lower lip and jaw jut out. Chloe laughed then stopped herself.

"But you're alright… I guess, for a Slytherin I mean" she winked at me suggestively hinting that she was only joking.

"You guess?" I retorted back, "Please, give me a break, I'm the best person you know!"

We laughed as Chloe playfully shook her head and murmured "Totes."

We were halfway to the school when a large figure stopped us in our tracks, it's voice boomed "'Allo girls!" Hagrid beamed at us.

"Hello Hagrid," we chorused, equally pleased to see him.

"How about yous two come fer tea wit me tonight down at my hut? I 'ave a few new creatures, but no one to show 'em to! So what d'you say? 6 o'clock?" Chloe nodded eagerly and I gave a small shrug replyings

"Yeah, I guess."

Just before we got to the entrance of the Main Hall, Chloe suggested that we should sit together at the Hufflepuff table, however upon arrival I scanned the enter length of the table, only to find there was nowhere to sit. Well I say that; Aubrey had clearly saved a space next to her, but of course there was no way I was going to be joining her for lunch even if there was room for me. Chloe huffed a bit, pulled a frown and pouted a little but soon brightened up when I told her to join me on the Slytherin table where there was plenty of space. I had a small sense of victory as she followed me to my table with an apologetic wave to the blonde girl.

No sooner had I sat down, I immediately remembered that it was Friday and meant that the individual House Quidditch Trials. "Chloe. I need to leave soon, I've just remembered I've got something to do this lunchtime, I completely forgot, I'm so sorry!" I rambled away feeling bad that she may have to sit alone for some of lunch.

"Oh, that's okay, I've got a study group in the library so it's totes fine with me." I couldn't tell if she was upset or not, and mentally kicked myself for letting her down.

"Well, so long as you'll be alright by yourself, whilst you finish up" I said between mouthfuls of food. The second I had finished eating I rose and waved back at Chloe who was smiling that radiant smile of hers and returning the gesture enthusiastically. I couldn't help wondering if she would be okay sat at the Slytherin House table as I made my way to the Annual Quidditch Trials.

 _I turned back to my food as soon as Beca had disappeared around the door of the Main Hall. 'I wonder where she's going,' I thought to myself, as I realised that she never actually told me what she needed to do at lunch._

 _I looked around the Slytherin table only to see how isolated it was now there was no one I knew or recognised. Shrugging to myself, I continued to feast upon the delicacy that was 'lunch', when I noticed an older boy watching me. Stealing a glance at him, I figured he was still staring at me, and was about to move seats when our eyes met. Holding his gaze, his strange, beautiful, secretive eyes, twinkling back at me. His mouth was pulled into a large grin, which I could only respond to with an equally wide toothy smile. He was so elegant yet confined in his movement towards me, a snake gliding in the grass. Now sat directly opposite to me, I could make out the perfect jutting out of his cheekbones and sharp jawline. The way his wavy hair seemed to defy gravity with its small curls at the front of his head._

 _I withdrew slightly when he leaned towards me but relaxed when I saw the familiar gesture of his outstretched hand, waiting for me to shake it so he could introduce himself_


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, I've been so swamped with work. Thought I'd post this today though instead of the weekend, as a kind of apology? Thanks to all the people who have been reviewing, it really does help us decide where we want the story to go, and keep us motivated. Okay, so credit where it's due: my friend wrote most of this chapter (I only did the bit at Hagrid's), so if you enjoy this chapter it's pretty much entirely due to her. Enjoy! :D**

 _"Hello, I'm Tom." He spoke with a low, confident hiss. I took his hand all the same, whilst thinking what a 'strange boy' he was despite obviously being older._

 _"Chloe Beale." I shied away under his intense gaze, looking down at our hands when I realised he was still gripping onto mine. He followed the movement of my eyes and quickly let go of my hand once he too realised, flashing me that devilishly, dazzling smile of his._

 _"Well Chloe, it's a pleasure to meet you!"_

 _"And you," I paused at the charming young man and his manners, incorporating a certain smirk before saying, "Tom."_

 _"What are your plans for this lunchtime?" He asked, sounding genuine and interested._

 _"Not a lot." I blurted out. The second I had spoken, I mentally kicked myself for trying to sound cool in front of him by lying about the study group- that was meant to be starting in five minutes!_

 _"Well if you're not busy you should come and watch the Slytherin Quidditch Trials which I'll be helping out at." he suggested innocently._

 _'Now look at what you've gotten yourself into, silly! You're just going to have to tell him you have a study group in the library, or... Pretend you've forgotten that you need to be somewhere!'_

 _"Oh gosh! Is that the time already? I really must get going- I'm meant to be somewhere!" I leapt up from the table. Tom matched my movements._

 _"Wait- where? What about my Quidditch?" he challenged._

 _"Urm, I'm meeting Beca somewhere!" I hurriedly fumbled for my belongings stuffing them into my bag._

 _"Oh," a hint of obvious deflation in his voice, "the small brunette you were just with, whose Dad is a teacher here?" I frowned at his response for two reasons: the subtle disgust in Tom's voice at the mention of Beca, and 'since when was Beca's Dad a teacher?!'_

 _I nodded my head in reply, before turning on my heel as I slung my bag over my shoulder._

 _"I guess I'll see you around Chloe," he winked and stuck a hand in his pocket whilst the other waved after me._

 _"Hope Quidditch goes well!" I hurried off down the aisle away from him, away from the charming but strange boy, Tom being all I could think about on my way to the Library._

I huffed my way out of the changing rooms and onto the field, joined by Lily and Lucious.

"Right listen up! I'm your captain and Slytherin house prefect, Reuben Méchant." Sneered a voice, projected all around the pitch, captivating us with fear.

"Oh so you decided to turn up!" I followed Reuben's voice and dark eyes to a figure swiftly riding a broom onto the pitch, chuckling to himself as he rode. I winced as the familiar face of Tom Riddle approached, glaring at me as he came to a halt and jumped off his broom. I held my breath and gulped as he passed me, shooting a glare in mine and Lucius' direction.

"Yes I did Reuben, got distracted didn't I." He winked at the captain who nodded in response.

"Now how about we get this miserable lot flying and test them out! All of those trying for the team this year go grab a broom from the store cupboard over there," he pointed and paused. "Last one in the air is immediately off the team!" He ordered with a snarl.

I leapt into action, running to the cupboard so badly not wanting to be last. I had been cursed with being short and this did not play in my favour when it came to running. But I knew my determination and practice at flying would pay off once I had a broom.

Almost being the last to get to the store cupboard I grabbed a broom feeling the gnarled wood beneath my finger tips. I shot back out onto the pitch where only two of the twenty Slytherin students on trial had gotten up into the air. Remembering all my Dad had taught me from such a young age, I got into the right stance, one which I had perfected. Feeling a rush of adrenaline from my core to my toes and along my arms I gently pushed off from the ground. One feet, two feet, three feet and rising slowly steadily. I steered the front of the broom around and looked down at Lucius, who was struggling. Momentarily worried for my friend, I then let out a sigh of relief when I saw his feet leave the floor beneath him and slowly get closer to me. Lily passed me by on her broom except she was riding it upside down hanging from her feet like a bat. Lucius joined me looking slightly nervous but gave a mischievous grin at Lily

"Show off!" Lucius nodded over at her, I chuckled and gently nudged into him. Lily looked up at him and stuck her tongue out then clambered back onto her broom. I turned to him, "I bet you couldn't do that though…" Smirking as I pulled away. Lily let out a small laugh and raised her eyebrow at me.

She said something so quiet that I only just heard: "Anyway Beca, how did you get up in the air so fast?"

"Oh, flying is something my Dad and I have done a lot of together. I guess you could say I'm passionate about Quidditch. I mean I remember whole summers spent me and him out in the back garden and at empty parks practicing. Sometimes he would joke about and pretend Josie was the Golden Snitch!" I smiled fondly at the memory.

"Badass Beca getting all soppy!" Lucius teased.

"Hey! I'm not!" I poked my tongue out at him and gave him an icy glare to which he coiled back from.

"Anyway Lily, how come you're at the Slytherin trials? You're a ravenclaw?" I asked, confused. To my dismay, she merely grinned at me and flew away, managing to almost knock the captain off his broom as he flew towards us. Glancing back at the diminishing figure of Liky, he addressed us:

"Word is that she's gone to every house trial so far. I wouldn't mind her she's a bit of an oddball. Keep up the good flying Mitchell, Malfoy." And with that, he was gone.

The trials, after everyone had got up into the air, were simple. We were all assigned different positions in the field and rotated every time a goal was scored by our team. I found that because I was small and light, I could move quicker than the majority of the field, and once the other players in my team realised this, the ball was passed to me more often. I was second to become the chaser for our team and after several attempts against the opposition's incredible Keeper I managed to throw it through the middle ring.

I glanced over to Tom and he looked slightly impressed. This both surprised me and spurred me on.

By the end of the match, my team had lost, meaning that the majority of us hadn't passed into the Slytherin team. I couldn't help but feel incredibly disappointed by this, and sulked off the pitch.

"Wait, you! Mitchell!"

I turned back at the sound of Tom's voice.

"Yeah?" confused by what he wanted to do with me, especially after I thought he hated me.

"I know it's not much but I could offer you a place on the team as a score-keeper, which would mean you could still train with us," my eyes lit up at this suggestion and sudden act of kindness. " however you wouldn't play any of our matches unless we needed to sub you on as a last resort."

By now Reuben had come along to stand beside Tom, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, you actually played really well out there today, despite your team losing. By training with us at lunchtimes and on Sundays you could really improve and hopefully get onto the team by next year." He looked serious and finished on a lighter note "I'm not sure how you'll fare changing the scoreboard though at your height but I'm sure you'll manage!"

Tom burst into laughter adding "To be fair though, it's the only way we could get you onto the team without people questioning it."

I frowned at this but still got the impression that they were being legitimate about training.

"Well thank you for the opportunity!" I gushed, barely containing my excitement. "I guess I'll see you both at training when it starts."

I walked away with my back to them, beaming from ear to ear with a smile that I couldn't wipe off my face for the rest of lunch.

I slid to a stop next to Chloe in the entrance hall, panting because I'd ran all the way from the dungeons. She grinned at me upon arrival.

"I thought you weren't coming for a second, I was getting worried!" she said. Unable to do anything but gulp in air, I bent over with a finger out at the ginger. She patiently waited until I had recovered slightly, at which I stood up and flashed her a brief smile

"Of course I was coming, you can't survive without me" I told her with a wink. Laughing, she elbowed me in the side before grabbing my hand and starting to walk out the doors onto the grounds. Stumbling a little out of surprise at the action, I followed like a dog on a lead.

"So how come you were late?" she questioned, looking at me as we carried on at a calm pace. I looked down at our still joined hands, blinking, before replying.

"Oh, I couldn't get away from my friends"

"That's odd, did they not know you had to leave?"

"Oh no they didn't, but none of them would pay enough attention to their homework long enough for me to slip away" I explained, laughing. I didn't notice the frown crease Chloe's face at this remark, and so we carried on our way down the hill to Hagrid's hut. Once we reached the door, Chloe finally let go of my hand in order to knock on the thick door. I found myself missing the contact, so chided myself and snapped out of it. Having completed this action, she turned and gave me a smile so sunny that I even smiled back.

"Well 'ello, I was thinkin' that yous weren' gonna turn up!" The voice of the gameskeeper washed over us as the door opened, and the glinting eyes of Hagrid appeared from behind it. He held the door wider to allow us to enter, and stepped back, grinning at the two of us. Chloe practically skipped inside, so I rolled my eyes at her back.

"I saw that!" she called.

"I- what- how?!" I exclaimed. Spinning round, she came very close to me, so that I practically had to cross my eyes to see her. Heart beating fast, I gulped as she whispered:

"I'm magic"

Letting out a joyful laugh, she turned back around to give Hagrid a smile- though I noticed not quite the same smile as she gives me (don't ask me what the difference is, I couldn't tell you).

"Yeah, sorry about our tardiness, Hagrid, _someone_ -" she gave me a pointed look "was late out of her common room"

"There's no need to glare at me" I muttered, scuffing the floor with my foot "it's not like it could be anyone else…". Both Hagrid and Chloe chuckled, before Hagrid offered us some tea. My classmate agreed on behalf of both of us, so he began to bustle around the small cottage. I looked around as he talked.

"Ah, i's alright girls. Long as you don' be leavin' me hangin', I don' mind a bit." I noted the massive bed, which appeared to have something sticking out from underneath, but I couldn't quite see what. Just as I went to move to get a closer look, Hagrid turned back around to present us with our finished teas. Snapping back to my original spot, I noted Chloe's eyes tracking my movements, and poked my tongue out at her. She did the same, but I swear she made it look so much better than me.

The evening passed perfectly amiably: we discussed Hagrid's duties (what? I was curious);the various teachers; who we liked and disliked; and what subjects we loved and hated. This brought us round to discussing OWL Care of Magical Creatures, which sounded quite interesting. Hagrid said that he had always wanted to be a Care of Magical Creatures teacher, because he loved the subject when he was at school. Sounded alright.

 _OWL Care of Magical Creatures. I guess I should have seen it coming. But I totes wasn't prepared for Beca to sit up straight; eyes lit, and talk animatedly about various creatures. I just sat back and watched. Totes not creepy, don't worry._

 _I think the word that started it all was 'hippogriff'. I saw the scarcely witnessed smile practically leap onto Beca's face at the mention of the creatures. I had no idea what they are- still don't- but I gathered that they fly; they're "beautiful, majestic animals", and that Beca has always wanted to ride one._

 _From that point on, you could see the passion pouring out of Beca as she adorably got more and more excited at the prospect of knarls, bowtruckles, thestrals, and an abundance of other creatures. Honestly, she was so happy about the whole thing, that I could barely stop smiling when I looked at her. Which may or may not have been a lot of the time. Her mood was so good that when she noticed I was staring, instead of a snarky comment or her pulling a face at me, her smile simply grew wider. I just sat back and watched as Beca's true self unfolded in front of me._

 **A/N Sorry for the slightly abrupt ending, but it was a nice note to end on, and the chapter would have been too long otherwise. I hope the Bechloe moments made up for the late update *Im so sorry***


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